
Book t U SH 7 



OBSERVATIONS 

ON THE 

TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, AND PREVALENT 
DISEASES 

OF THE 

ISLAND OF JERSEY. 



JERSEY t 

PRINTED BY P. PAYN, ROYAL SALOON, 



HA 



OBSERVATIONS 



ON THE 



TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, 



AND 



PREVALENT DISEASES, 



OF THE 



ISLAND OF JERSEY, 

THE RESULT OF 

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, AND GENERAL 
PRACTICE, DURING THIRTEEN YEARS. 



%f3 

By GEORGE S?" HOOPER, M. D. 



LONDON : 



PUBLISHED BY WHITTAKER & CO, 

AYE-MARIA LANE. 

1837. 



CONTENTS 



Page 

Preface * a 

CHAP. I. 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND 
OF JERSEY. 

Extent, Figure, and Exposition 19 

Geology 20 

Character of the Soil ; Fertility 25 

General Aspect 30 

Botany 34 

Water 37 

Population ; National Character 40 

Habits, and Diet 40" 



CHAP. II. 

CLIMATE OF JERSEY. 

Temperature 52 

Winds 62 

Rain 68 

Atmospheric Pressure 70 

General Observations 71 



VI 

CHAP. III. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ST. HELIEll. 

Pago 

Situation, and Topography 86 

Geology ► : 87 

Aspect 89 

Drainage . 03 

Hecent Ameliorations 09 

Hints touching the proper use of a Main Drain 10 A 

Public Walks 108 

Accommodations for Bathing Ill 



CHAP. IV. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ST. AUBIN, 
&c. &c. &c. 

St. Aubin 115 

Comparative View of St. Holier, and St. Aubin, m regard to ) llq 

climate \ llJ 

Eligible Situations in St. Aubin's. ...... , 125 

Environs of St. Aubin 127 

Coast of St. Clement 12S 

Bay of Grouville 132 

Gorey 133 

St. Catherine's Bay 131 

Interior of the Island , ... f , , , , , ,,,,,,, , 135 



Vll 



CHAP. V. 

OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISEASES OF THE 

ISLAND, 

Page 

Prefatory Remarks • 140 

Diseases of Infancy and Childhood 147 

" of Adolescence 160 

of Adult Age 171 

of Old Age 174 

Scrofula , 176 

Consumption. ....... t 181 



CHAP. VI. 

REMEDIAL PROPERTIES OF THE CLIMATE OF 

JERSEY , 1S5 



APPENDIX. 

METEOROLOGICAL TABLES. 



3£rrtate< 



The political history of Jersey may now be 
considered an exhausted subject, having been 
amply illustrated in every point of view by many 
writers, ancient and modern. Of its institutions, 
privileges and customs little could be said that 
had not already been told oftentimes, whether 
by historians, economists, or the gentlemen of 
our local press. Its beauties too have been ably 
portrayed by that popular writer, the late Henry 
D. Inglis, the general merits of whose work on 
the Channel Islands have rendered any fresh at- 
tempt in a similar purpose wholly unnecessary 



10 

for the present. Neither would it be easy to add 
any thing important to what the same author has 
laid before the British public, relative to the ex- 
traordinary resources of the island as a commer- 
cial country, its produce, and the inducements it 
may offer as an eligible residence to persons of 
limited incomes, &c. &c. Upon all these mat- 
ters, therefore, there is little room left for ori- 
ginality ; and for any thing I may repeat on the 
same questions in these pages, my only apology 
is the desire of placing under one point of view, 
all that may contribute to the illustration of my 
particular subject. The same might be said of 
whatever relates to the state of agriculture in 
Jersey, which was most fully treated of by Mr. 
Quayles, in his clever report to the Board of 
Agriculture, made in the year 1812, and printed 
by order of that body. S#me improvements 
have, it is true, taken place since that period, 
and many of the excellent views of this expe- 
rienced writer, whether knowingly, or otherwise, 
have been put into practice; but the spirited 
exertions of our lately established Agricultural 



11 

Society, in which are happily united all the 
wealth and talent of the island, have contributed 
more than any other cause to promote further 
ameliorations^ If always conducted with the 
ability and honor that have hitherto marked its 
operations, that Society cannot fail to place this 
fertile spot, in regard to cultivation, excellence 
and quantity of produce, on a footing of supe- 
riority far exceeding what might be expected 
from its situation and extent. By means of con- 
tributions, due to the kindness and liberality of 
my friend Colonel Le Couteur, and Mr. B. Saun- 
ders, the well informed nurseryman and gardener, 
I shall be enabled to lay before the reader more 
than is generally known, concerning the present 
state of the island, in respect to fertility, and the 
capability of its natural qualities for further de- 
velopment. And, upon these interesting topics 
I may be allowed to debate the more freely, as 
they have a close and obvious connection with 
the question of climate, and supply more fami- 
liar illustrations of the latter to most readers, 
than mere meteorological data. 



12 

The labours of former inquirers, however, 
have not been extended to the climate of Jer- 
sey ; and the want of correct information upon 
that point has long been felt, as well by the 
medical profession, as by travellers in search of 
situations congenial to their state of health. 
That this desideratum should not have been sup- 
plied, long ere this, appears somewhat unaccount- 
able, when it is considered how much the know- 
ledge of the general attractions of the island 
has been diffused of late years, and by how 
much, as a consequence, the influx of visiters, 
and settlers has increased during the same pe- 
riod. The fact is, that many men would cheer- 
fully undertake a task requiring a much greater 
effort of intellect, but less time, who would 
shrink before one of slow progress, and requiring 
a very protracted exercise of industry, and per- 
severance. To remedy this absence of scientific 
information on the nature of our climate forms 
the chief object of this work, and whatever else 
I may comment upon in the course of my re- 
marks will, I think, be found, on examination, to 



13 

be subservient more or less, to the same purpose, 
Mr. Inglis, whilst prosecuting his researches 
on this Island, became sensible of the disadvan- 
tage under which he laboured, from the want of 
trustworthy information, touching the nature of 
its climate, and the prevailing diseases ; a cir- 
cumstance which has rendered his, otherwise in- 
res ting, book imperfect in a very essential par- 
ticular. Indeed, so convinced was he of the va- 
lue of such information, that he condescended 
to propose, that I should make his work the ve- 
hicle of what I had, up to that time, ascertained 
by means of philosophical observations, and se- 
veral years of general practice. Circumstances, 
which it is here unnecessary to mention, pre- 
vented my availing myself of his offer, which, 
I confess, seemed highly advantageous, inasmuch 
as a very extensive circulation was rendered 
almost certain, by the already established charac- 
ter of that gentleman, in the literary world. 

Of the great number of persons who visit this 
island in the summer months, there are not a few, 
who undertake that journey upon some notions 



14 

concerning its climate, formed upon hearsay infor- 
mation ; and, as this must often be incorrect, it 
is easy to account for the disappointment which 
is frequently experienced. On the other hand, 
many invalids, from a prudent distrust of such 
information, hesitate to make a trial of our cli- 
mate ; and the candid medical adviser is governed 
by the same feeling, when consulted on the pro- 
bable effect of a continued residence in this 
island, on health or disease. It is evident, there- 
fore, that, so long as the question remains in its 
present state, false expectations may be raised, 
or doubts created, either of which must be pre- 
judicial to the fair claims the island possesses to 
preference, as an eligible residence, in particular 
cases. 

It is not enough for practical application, that 
the climate of a locality be designated in general 
terms ; it is desirable, also that its several 
qualities be examined in detail, in order 
that, should any peculiarity belong to it, it may 
be possible to judge, whether, in that respect, it 
differs much from the climate of other similar 



15 

situations. For, when an invalid resolves on 
leaving his home, for a climate better suited to 
his state of health, he is naturally desirous of 
rendering such a step as effectual as possible, by 
the best selection, which his means of information 
can enable him to make. In most cases, there- 
fore, it would be of no small importance to him, 
not only to know beforehand which places were 
most likely to secure him the looked-for advan- 
tages ; but also, whether one spot in particular, 
more adapted to his means, convenience, or 
inclination, might not, in respect to climate, be 
equally entitled to preference. 

Like that of all small islands, the climate of 
Jersey is pretty generally known to be compara- 
tively mild and humid ; but beyond these broad 
features, writers do not seem to have deemed it 
worth while to carry their descriptions. The 
subject, therefore, may still be considered quite 
unexplored. Another very important point, 
viz. the diseases of the Island, viewed in regard to 
comparative prevalence, and pathological dis- 
tinctions from local causes, has, hitherto, re- 



16 

ceived but little elucidation from actual expe- 
rience. For, the ability with which Dr. Schole- 
field has handled it, in his contribution to Mr. 
Inglis' work, may be deemed independent of any 
knowledge acquired by his own personal obser- 
vations. That he may have taken his informa- 
tion from very respectable sources, and that his 
inferences, from facts thus collected, may be very 
logical, I do not mean to dispute ; but the diffi- 
culty under which he laboured, from his own 
limited acquaintance with his subject, is rendered 
very apparent by a perusal of his essay. By 
those who know something of the circumstances 
under which that gentleman then wrote, the ge- 
neral merit of his performance cannot fail to be 
favorably appreciated; but, at the same time, it 
must be granted, that ample room is still left 
for further investigation. 

For the above reasons I have especially con- 
centrated my inquiry upon the climate and pa- 
thology of Jersey : and whatever degree of suc- 
cess may have attended my labours, (of which 
it only belongs to competent readers to decide,) 



17 

I can safely assert that every essential fact has 
been carefully examined by myself, and no infer- 
ence drawn without regard to its tendency, or a 
due sense of the importance of avoiding every 
source of fallacy, in questions of this nature. 

These subjects not having been as yet pro- 
perly investigated, very false notions have gone 
abroad upon the one, as a remedial agent, and 
upon the other, as the index of certain local in- 
fluences, — and, as the evils of such errors cannot 
fail to be experienced in various ways by many 
persons, a series of observations made with 
a view to more accurate information, will, it 
is hoped, be found deserving of attention. To 
medical men, especially, the questions arising 
out of such an inquiry are both interesting 
and important; and it would, indeed, be a 
cause of no small satisfaction to me to learn, 
that the manner in which they have been treated, 
in the following pages, was found sufficiently 
clear, and comprehensive to lead to useful appli- 
cation in practice. 



CHAP. I. 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND 
OF JERSEY. 

EXTENT, FIGURE, AND EXPOSITION. 

Jersey is the most considerable and most po- 
pulous of the Channel Islands ; it also lies further 
south than its neighbours. Quadrilateral in its 
form, it stretches from East to West in a direc- 
tion nearly parallel with the equator, averaging 
about nine miles in length, and five in breadth. 
Its superficies has been estimated at between 
thirty-nine and forty thousand acres. To the 
north its coast is steep and craggy, rising in 
some places to an abrupt elevation of forty, or 
fifty fathoms : to the south, on the contrary, the 



20 

ascent to the main land is more or less gradual, 
and displays a very rich landscape. On the lat- 
ter side, there are, here and there, tracts of flat 
land between the shore and the points where the 
island begins to rise; and these tracts are, in 
some places, under the level of high-water mark. 
As will be shown hereafter, the site of St. He- 
lier's, the principal town, is very little above this 
level. It has been pretty generally stated, that, 
between its northern and southern boundaries, the 
surface of the island follows a regular inclination, 
so as to give it a wedge-like form; but that 
description is certainly incorrect. The high 
grounds between the numerous vallies, by which 
the surface of the island is, everywhere, sunk 
and extended, are all nearly horizontal, except 
close to the east, west, and south coasts ; but as 
the vallies, with few exceptions, run from north 
to south, they of necessity exhibit the declivity 
in question, and the streams which they supply 
follow a similar direction. To this configuration 
is chiefly owing the remarkable fertility of the 
island. 



21 

GEOLOGY. 

The geological researches of Dr. McCulloch, 
which included most of the rocks in St, Michael's 
hay, would warrant the supposition that Jersey, 
like the other islands in the same quarter, rests 
on a basis of real granite. Be that as it may, 
the much admired Mont Mado stone, which, from 
its extreme hardness, has been confounded with 
the latter rock, is Sienite, in which Felspar pre- 
dominates. It is, nevertheless, a beautiful and 
valuable rock, being very dense and homoge- 
neous, of a pleasing flesh colour, and separating 
in larger masses than any other mineral in the 
island. The sienitic rocks of Jersey, however, 
run into several varieties, by reason of differ- 
ences in the proportion of their constituents. In 
some parts, says, Mr. Konig, they pass into por- 
phyry ; in others, into a kind of green-stone, in 
a state of partial, or entire decomposition. To 
this belongs the rock which forms the Town Hill. 
Specimens of sienite are to be met with in al- 
most every point of the coast of the island ; but 
the situations in which it is most abundant, and 



22 

beautiful, and, by reason of its extreme density, 
makes the nearest approach to the mechanical con- 
struction of real granite, are Fremont, Plemont, 
St. Brelade's bay, Noirmont, and the eastern side 
of St. Helier. 

Incumbent on the sienitic masses are schistose 
formations, the higher strata of which are much 
fractured, green porphyry, amygdalaid, and 
pudding-stone. The stratified schistus is parti- 
cularly observed on the declivities of the southern 
coast ; while, on the contrary, the large naked 
masses of sienite exhibit themselves chiefly on 
the northern side, forming in some parts high, 
and almost perpendicular cliffs, which rise to an 
elevation of from 200 to 300 feet above high- 
water mark. In the neighbourhood of Bonne- 
Nuit, the land rises 329 feet above the latter 
level. 

As a geological curiosity, there is no object 
more deserving of attention in this island than a 
mass of pudding-stone, extending from Boulay 
Bay to St. Catherine's, on the northern bounda- 
ry, and reaching to a distance of about two miles 



23 

inland. It is stated that no such formation is to 
be found in any of the neighbouring islands. Mr. 
Quayle, in his excellent report to the Board of 
Agriculture, describes it as follows : — " The 
" basis of the breccia is schistose, containing in- 
<w fixed stones and pebbles of various descriptions 
" and sizes, generally bearing marks of former 
" attrition, and few attaining the size of the hu- 
" man head. They consist, principally, of mica- 
" cious schistus, but some are porphyry ; others 
" granite, and granitel. On detaching from their 
" position some of these pebbles, they disclosed 
44 on fracture the curious fact, that they owe their 
" formation to a former process of nature, of a 
" description precisely similar to that by which 
44 the present bed of breccia has been formed. 
" In these pebbles are contained still smaller 
41 pebbles, which wear the appearance of having 
44 been rounded by previous attrition, previous 
" to being agglutinated in a body of stone, which 
" has been afterwards broken into irregular frag- 
" ments : in their turn, these fragments had been 
" rounded, when they were again embedded in 



24 

" the rock of which they now constitute a part." 
These pebbles of the first formation, adds Mr. 
Quayle, carry us to a remote period in the his- 
tory of the revolutions of our planet. 

There are only very slight traces of metals in 
Jersey, and any attempt to separate any for the 
purposes of art has, long ago, and, indeed, justly, 
been held as chimerical. The existence of iron 
ore is chiefly proved by a few chalybeate springs 
to be met with here, and there ; but no strong in- 
dications appear of the presence of other metallic 
substances. The hopes once entertained of dis- 
covering manganese have never been realized. 
The island is equally destitute of lime. 

I hope I shall not be thought to detract from 
the just claims of the island to the attention of 
men of science, when I say that, with the above 
exceptions, it is rather sterile in those objects, 
which might induce a practical geologist to tarry 
long on its shores. This circumstance, indeed, 
may partly explain, why such competent observers 
as have surveyed the island, have apparently con- 
fined their researches to a few general facts, 



25 

without entering into minuter details. To me it 
would have been a work of higher interest to 
have supplied the deficiency ; but, wanting abi- 
lity and leisure for such an inquiry, I have been 
necessarily obliged to limit my remarks on the 
geology of the island, to a mere summary of the 
observations of others better qualified than my- 
self. Mr. Konig's inquiry* might assuredly have 
been extended to some interesting particulars ; 
and that it was not is the more to be regretted, as 
this country is seldom visited by men so compe- 
tent to throw light on its natural history. I am not 
aware, however, of the existence of any obser- 
vations, on the same subject, more copious, or de- 
serving of confidence, than those of that accom- 
plished gentleman. 



CHARACTER OF THE SOIL. — FERTILITY 
ILLUSTRATED. 

The general character of the soil of Jersey is 
a deep sandy loam, with a subsoil of red loam, or 

* Vide Plees' Account of the Island of Jersey, 1817. 



26 

clay, based on granitic rocks, or schistose forma- 
tions. The depth of this soil runs from one to 
four feet, or more, in some cases. But this ge- 
neral character is, of course, subject to many 
variations : some parts containing much iron ore, 
and others a greater quantity of sand, and sandy 
peat. It is, I believe, generally admitted, that 
all lands incumbent on granitic bases are the fit- 
test for the purposes of agriculture, and the 
growth of timber ; and the same may be said of 
red clay, which is an excellent subsoil. Hence, 
then, it is not difficult to account for the remark- 
able fertility of the island, which, moreover, has 
for a long series of years, been continually im- 
proved by natural, and artificial means. It is 
only in the neighbourhood of cities and towns, 
that, in other larger countries, land can be found 
so well manured, and so rich, as is generally ob- 
served in Jersey. Much stress is laid by our 
farmers on the advantages they derive from the 
saline particles deposited on the soil by the pre- 
vailing breezes. The old adage, ; it is an ill wind 
that blows nobody good,' is, therefore, fully ve- 



27 

rified in this island ; since even the boisterous, 
and stormy westerly gales are not without their 
advantages, in this point of view. This is owing 
to the spray borne along by those winds; for 
rain, being the produce of previous evaporation, 
cannot contain any salt in solution. Certain 
it is, however, that after the continuance of these 
high winds, plants and grasses acquire a saline 
flavour, several miles from the coast ; which 
circumstance renders the herbage peculiarly 
agreeable to cattle and sheep, and may account 
for the former being generally healthy along the 
coast, and the latter rarely, if ever, affected with 
the rot. May not the same cause affect man in 
a similar manner ? 

In proof of the great fertility of the island, 
I hope I may be pardoned for introducing here 
the following interesting facts, for which I am in- 
debted to my friend Colonel Le Couteur. The 
superiority of produce in Jersey is chiefly ex- 
hibited in the Potato and Wheat crops; but 
the produce of orchards, in some years, is equally 
great, and the quantity of pears and stone fruit 



28 

of a delicious kind is also very unusual. The 
average of the potato crops is much above the 
same in Great Britain, 10 cabots a perch, being* 
an ordinary produce in the best lands, though 
not more than 6 can be obtained from inferior 
soils. But even this last quantity would be es- 
teemed a good crop in England, Now, the above 
produce, converted into English measure, will be 
400 cabots of 401bs. each the vergee, which mul- 
tiplied by 2J, the exact number of vergees to 
the English acre, is 400 x 40 x 2\ ; when, to 
bring the Jersey weight into avoirdupois, is 
13 : 14:: 400x40 x 21=38. 769 'lbs. per acre,— 
a produce far exceeding that of East Lothian 
and Essex, which, according to Sir John Sinclair, 
is from eight to ten tons, under good culture and 
a proper soil.* The superiority of our wheat 
crops is equally manifest, 40 bushels of 601bs. 
each, equal to 2,4001bs. being reckoned an ex- 
cellent crop anywhere in Great Britain ; where- 
as, in Jersey, many farmers reckon on having a 
cabot per perch in favorable seasons, which is 

* Vide ' Code of Agriculture,' pages 392 and 575, 



29 

3,1 lOlbs. avoirdupois per acre, or an excess of 
7001bs. in favor of the island. But Colonel Le 
Couteur knows of two instances, in which seventy- 
seven bushels per acre were grown in Jersey; and 
he himself, in the year 1835, raised the former 
quantity, on only whipping out of the wheat, 
previous to the thrashing, which of course, ad- 
ded something more to the return. The quan- 
tity of parsnips raised by some farmers is also 
very considerable; and Lucerne, when cultivated 
with skill, thrives so prodigiously, that it is fre- 
quently cut four times, and fed-off a fifth ! 

From the foregoing statement may be con- 
ceived how great a field of utility is open to the 
Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society ; 
an institution which, though quite in its infancy, 
has already made great progress in the accom- 
plishment of its laudable objects. Many farmers, 
who, previously to the establishment of this so- 
ciety, betrayed a timid aversion to any change in 
their obsolete habits, may now be considered as 
converts to modern improvements, and exhibit 
crops, which would do honor to the best agricul- 



30 

turists in any country. In a word, to use the 
language of my patriotic, and accomplished 
contributor, " a powerful impulse is given by 
this Society to an intelligent, and inquiring 
people, not, indeed, sufficiently wealthy to at- 
tempt extensive experiments, but sufficiently in- 
dependent, and enterprising, to carry on with 
success those more minute researches, which 
eventually lead to the benefit of mankind in 
general, and, which, even when unsuccessful, 
never fail to leave consoling emotions in a well- 
constituted mind." 



GENERAL ASPECT OF THE ISLAND. 

What has been already stated will have, doubt- 
less, prepared the reader to hear, that the general 
aspect of the island displays a degree of prospe- 
rity, which an observer might in vain look for in 
countries, where wealth, restricted to a few favor- 
ed spots, only serves to render the gloom of a 
sad contrast more striking in adjoining districts. 
Of this more than sufficient proof may be had in 



31 

a view of our harbour, our commercial streets, 
and the purlieus of our town, where every thing 
indicates active industry, increasing prosperity, 
and acquired wealth : — and, no less, in the con- 
templation of the spacious and solid habitations 
of our farmers, with the rich pasturages and ex- 
uberant vegetation of the land that surrounds 
them. And as in our contracted limits these 
things may be seen, as it were, in one coup d'ceil, 
their effect on the mind of a stranger must be no 
less unexpected than pleasing. Upon a small 
scale, nowhere is to be found a greater richness 
of inland scenery ; and although the latter sel- 
dom rises above what might be called pretty, on 
account of the absence of the grander, and more 
imposing spectacles of nature, still this medio- 
crity is amply compensated by the varying aspect 
of the ocean, studded everywhere with rocky 
projections, islands, vessels going to and fro, and 
bounded by an horizon, which, in clear weather, 
discovers the yellow sands, and picturesque cliffs 
of the neighbouring coast of France. Neither 
can the more placid enjoyments of the field be 



32 

wanting in a country, which consists almost en- 
tirely of hill and dale, and abounds in wood, and 
verdure. From an elevated spot, the island looks 
like a grove ; so great is the number of trees in 
the orchards, and on the massive embankments 
which separate the different small pieces of 
ground. For, here, the subdivision of property 
is not only excessive ; but each landowner is fond 
of separating his fields, by means of stout hedges, 
on which to grow timber, and the sides of our 
countless roads and lanes are similarly raised, and 
furnished with trees. This gives a very novel 
character to our rural districts in the eyes of 
Englishmen, accustomed to a more open coun- 
trv : and, though the idea might almost seem 
ridiculous, when the small size of the island is 
considered, yet it may be said with truth, that, to 
a stranger, Jersey presents a natural labyrinth of 
no common intricacy, — and that, out of the main 
roads, he would be very likely to lose his way. 

The woody appearance of the island is, how- 
ever, relieved from that of solitude by unequi- 
vocal marks everywhere of the highest degree of 



33 

cultivation ; and also by the vast number of ex- 
cellent houses, and gay villas, by which the face 
of the country is dotted on all sides. The coun- 
try parishes alone possess at least 3,000 inhabited 
houses ; and, there being only two of those 
parishes, viz., St. Brelade, and Grouville, in 
which anything like a town or village is to be 
found, the above number of habitations, must be 
allowed to be prodigious, and apparently incom- 
patible with the size of the island. The remain- 
ing parish, St. Helier, including our principal 
town, in 1831, contained upwards of 2,000 
houses, with an increasing population, then 
amounting to 16,027 ! To those who are unac- 
quainted with the political resources, and com- 
mercial privileges of this, and the other Channel 
Islands, these facts will naturally seem irreconci- 
liable with cheap living, and other advantages, 
which might be enumerated along with them. 
But, as it does not belong to my present plan to 
enter into such matters, I am under the neces- 
sity of referring those of my readers, who might 



34 

wish to be satisfied on those points, to other more 
popular works.* 



BOTANY OF THE ISLAND. 

There is no doubt, that to the botanist Jersey 
presents a wide, and interesting field of observa- 
tion, compared with its narrow limits. Many 
hundred wild plants have been collected, two of 
which are indigenous, viz., the Centaurea Isnar- 
di, and the Gnaphalium luteo album. My friend, 
W. C. Trevelyan, esq., during a short visit he 
made to the island, informed me that he had also 
found two plants, which, as far as he knew, did 
not grow in any other part of the kingdom, — Ar- 
meria cephalotes, which is abundant in the sandy 
districts of St. Ouen, and St. Brelade, — and 
Echium violaceum, first noticed here by the ce- 
lebrated English botanist Ray, but confounded 
by subsequent authors with Echium Italicum, 
not to be found here at all. The following list 
of plants, given me by the same gentleman, is in- 
teresting, inasmuch as, occurring only in the 

* Vide Plees' Account, &c, and Inglis' Channel Islandi. 



35 

western and south-western parts of England, 
their existence here would seem to indicate a si- 
milarity of climate. 

Sibthorpia Europcea. 

Matthiola sinuata. 

Scilla autumnalis. 

Campanula hederacea. 

Scrophularia scorodonia. 

Asparagus officinalis. 

Briza minor. 

Bartsia viscosa. 

Helianthemum guttaturn. 

Lavateria arborea. 
And among the plants which are considered rare 
in England, may be instanced 

Cyperus longus. 

Mespilus germanica. 

Statice spathulata. 

Diotis maritima. 

Hypericum elodes. 

Asplenicum lanceolatum. 

— — marinum. 

Cotyledon umbilicus. 



36 

It may be observed that the latter plant, which 
is very abundant in this island, is strongly indica- 
tive of a damp climate. The best Flora of the 
Channel Islands as yet published, is that, which 
Mr. Quayles published in the appendix to the 
work already quoted, and which had been com- 
municated to him by Dr. McCulloch. But as my 
object will be fully answered by the preceding 
brief remarks, I will abstain from any further 
details in this place ; reserving the facts I have 
collected on the success which attends the natu- 
ralization of exotics in this island, for the chap- 
ter devoted more particularly to the considera- 
tion of our climate. I may, however, observe in 
conclusion, that in addition to the native pro- 
duce of the island, the botanist will also enjoy 
here the advantage of examining, in a perfectly 
sound state, a vast number of tender tropical 
plants, which seldom, if ever, live in health in 
any part of Great Britain. 



37 

WATER. 

The qualities of spring-water in this island 
vary, of course, with the spots from which it is 
taken ; but generally speaking, and in relation to 
the two qualities of hardness and softness, it 
may be said that the latter belongs to the higher, 
and the former to the lower situations. In 
the elevated spots, which form the body of 
the island, spring-water makes a near approach 
to perfect purity; being clear as crystal, and 
tasting peculiarly delicious, from a slight flavour 
of muriate of soda, the only mineral substance 
to be found in it, in any appreciable quantities. 
Free from earthy salts, it is found fit for all do- 
mestic purposes, and yields nothing in value to 
rain water, in that respect. Most of the farms, 
therefore, are supplied with this essential re- 
quisite by a well, a neighbouring fountain or 
stream; and cisterns for the reception of rain 
water are scarcely ever seen, except in low flat 
situations, such as the alluvial tracts of St. He- 
lier, St. Clement, and Grouville. It so happens, 
however, that the latter spots contain more than 



38 

half the population of the island ; — a circum- 
stance which, douhtless, more than counterba- 
lances their comparatively small extent, and 
renders the qualities of their waters a question 
of the highest importance. With few excep- 
tions, in these districts, spring-water is hard; as 
is sufficiently proved by that most familiar, but 
best of all tests, its action upon common soap, 
and dried vegetables, such as beans and peas. 
This, as chemists know, is owing to the presence 
of earthy salts, (most commonly the sulphate of 
lime,) which, however much they may limit the 
domestic uses of such springs, can only render 
them insalubrious as drink, when the impregna- 
tion passes its ordinary limits. In this island, 
the hardest water is never sufficiently so to pro- 
duce pretrifactions ; at least, though I have made 
repeated inquiries on the subject, I have never 
heard of an instance of such productions having 
been found in any of our fountains, or running 
streams. A graver objection to the spring- 
water of these low situations rests on the more 
deleterious impurities, which it derives from the 



39 

nature of the soil, in which the wells are sunk. 
Except where clay exists to a considerable 
depth, — and this is not the case in most parts, — 
or where the modern plan has been adopted, of 
boring down to the spring, and conveying the 
water by means of a pipe into a cemented reser- 
voir above, the water in use is seldom clear. It 
is, also, very turbid after heavy rains, and under- 
goes rapid decomposition, if kept confined in a 
vessel, from the quantity of vegetable matter 
which it holds in solution. Hence its vapid taste, 
and disagreeable odour, particularly striking to 
persons accustomed to the excellent water of 
more favorable situations. That these bad quali- 
ties do not belong to the springs themselves, but, 
on the contrary, proceed entirely from land drain- 
age, is clearly proved by the exceptions I have 
here stated ; the clay offering an obstacle to such 
contamination in the one case, and the construc- 
tion of the reservoir opposing it still more effec- 
tually in the other. The advantages belonging 
to this latter plan, have, of late years, been very 
generally recognised; and, by its having been 



40 

adopted, much of the evil I have just pointed 
out has heen remedied. 



POPULATION. — NATIONAL CHARACTER. 

The last census which was made in 1831, esta- 
blished the population of the Island at 36,582 
souls, an increase of nearly 8,000 having taken 
place during the preceding ten years; of which 
augmentation three-fourths was referrible to the 
extension of the town of St. Helier only. Sup- 
posing the further increase of the population 
since that period to have progressed in a similar 
ratio, it would now reach 40,000 ; but I am in- 
clined to think that such a computation would 
go somewhat beyond the real number. It need 
scarcely be added, that the census included all 
classes of inhabitants, whether temporary or na- 
tive. Passing from these numerical consider- 
ations, to the more important subject of physical 
and moral characters, I believe the following de- 
lineation will be found to apply to the Jersey 
people, as nearly as possible. At all events, 



41 

it was made some years back, was then the sub- 
ject of free discussion in a literary assembly, and 
was not found more open to particular excep- 
tions, than all similar descriptions must of ne- 
cessity be. 

The difficulty of coming to a general conclu- 
sion on the physical characters of a race of men, 
is much lessened in Jersey, by reason of its male 
population being embodied into militia corps, 
which, when assembled, offer an excellent oppor- 
tunity of viewing them critically. But, to avoid 
misapprehension, it is necessary to turn one's at- 
tention chiefly to the country regiments, that of 
the town being by far less exclusively native. 
By using this means of arriving at correct infor- 
mation on this subject, even a casual observer 
will be enabled to form a pretty just opinion of 
the leading features of the population of the 
island. The men are generally of the middle 
size, and retain much of the physical characters 
of their two originals, the Celts, and the Scandi- 
navians, especially in the northern districts, 
where the race has suffered the least admixture. 

F 



42 

The hair is mostly dark brown, or light chesnut, 
the features sharp and intelligent, the complexion 
tawny, the expression rather harsh and phlegma- 
tic. Hence a certain reserve and roughness of 
manner, anything but prepossessing to a stranger, 
and which, having been mistaken for intentional 
rudeness by some travellers, has drawn much un- 
merited obloquy upon our people. Their limbs 
are muscular, but not bulky ; they are active and 
laborious ; and the whole of their figure is re- 
markable for more ease and flexibility, under or- 
dinary exertion, than is to be observed in the 
parallel orders of most communities. There is, 
undoubtedly, less outward rusticity to be seen in 
the peasantry of this island, than that of Eng- 
land or France ; and a perfect clown is a being 
rarely to be met with, even in our remotest dis- 
tricts, — a peculiarity, in all likelihood, mainly 
owing to the early military exercises, to which 
every native is by law subject. This explanation 
is the more probable, as, under the age at which 
this drilling commences, the children of the 
peasantry are as wild, and as easily scared at the 



43 

sight of a stranger, as in any other country. Be- 
sides, this peculiarity is not so apparent in the 
female sex. As seamen, shipwrights, and masons, 
in which trades bodily strength, and moral intre- 
pidity are in request, the labouring classes are 
justly valued ; and, in the late war, when im- 
pressment forced many from the merchant ser- 
vice into the British navy, they were generally 
allowed to rank among the best hands of a ship's 
crew. Were I to apply the ancient doctrine of 
temperaments to the elucidation of this subject, 
I would say, that the most conspicuous tempera- 
ment here, was a compound of the bilious and 
the nervous. The latter remark applies to both 
the sexes. The women though comely and well 
built, are, however, more remarkable for neatness 
of figure, than elegance of stature, or regular 
beauty; but they yield nothing to the opposite 
sex, either in physical or moral excellence. 
Industry is here at its highest pitch. Whoever 
has had much insight into the general character 
of our country people, will have witnessed many 
proofs of mutual good-will, and warm-hearted- 



44 

ness ; and though they are generally saving and 
penurious, they are, nevertheless, ready to assist 
each other, honest, and jealous of reputation. 
The best qualities of our nature are apt to dege- 
nerate into their corresponding vices: thus self- 
ishness, and avarice, seem often to take their 
origin from economy; and it is a fact no less 
certain, than it is to be lamented, that from this 
cause, the latter defects are too often exemplified 
among our industrious classes. The error of 
taking the means for the end is particularly ob- 
servable in the habits of some of our wealthiest 
farmers, who, in the midst of plenty, seem only 
bent on increasing their store, and appear wholly 
indifferent to the most ordinary comforts of life. 
The same might be said of industry, which when 
carried to excess, frequently defeats its own ob- 
ject, by over-exertion, and consequent disease. 

I need scarcely add, that the above prototype 
of national character, distinguishable, more or 
less, in all classes of the native community, is 
not so readily recognised in the upper and lower, 
as in the middling orders of society. And, in- 



45 

deed, some of the traits I have alluded to belong- 
exclusively to the inhabitants of the country, 
among whom insular characteristics have yielded 
less to improved education, or increased inter- 
course with the mother country. By the latter 
causes the population of the town has, undoubt- 
edly, lost much of its resemblance to that of the 
island at large ; a more easy, and almost daily 
communication with England, having in a great 
measure neutralized the effects of insular situa- 
tion, and modified public character accordingly. 
Our thorough townsman, therefore, differs but 
little from any English provincialist. In most 
concerns, he makes English taste his rule ; and 
although the still prevalent use of a Norman 
patois, might at first incline a stranger to the op- 
posite conclusion, a residence of some months 
will, I believe, convince him, that the use of 
French words, does not necessarily imply 
French ideas. 



46 

HABITS AND DIET. 

The habits of our country population are in- 
dustrious almost to a fault : in the town, also, 
our people are a hardworking race. I wish it could 
be said, with truth, that sobriety was equally gene- 
ral among our labouring classes ! But, on the 
contrary, it must be confessed that intemperance 
is the bane of this little island ; and, in its pre- 
sent degree, it may be considered as a public ca- 
lamity, well deserving the serious attention of the 
legislature. Temperance Societies, though pro- 
moted with zeal, and ability in most of the 
parishes, have, as yet, been of little, if any, 
avail towards checking the alarming growth of 
this evil. Might not the slow progress of these 
benevolent societies, be partly accounted for by 
their rules requiring an entire abstinence, and 
consequent surrender of free agency, which few 
moderate drinkers of liquor will be made to be- 
lieve necessary to keep them from the snare, 
which they have hitherto avoided, without the 
aid of any such moral sacrifice ? Be that as it 
may, the abuse of ardent spirits is chiefly ob- 



47 

servable among the portion of our working 
classes, usually called ' strangers/ in contradis- 
tinction of the native population : and by that 
cause, the labour of many an excellent artizan is 
rendered entirely useless to his family. In this 
prosperous country, there is scarcely any appar- 
ent pauperism, which might not, with reason, be 
referred to the evil in question, the effects of . 
which, no benevolence can obviate. Distress 
from want of employment is, indeed, of rare oc- 
currence to the sober man, to whose legitimate 
wants, the wages of labour, compared with the 
prices of the necessaries of life, are fully ade- 
quate. Little of the misery which meets the 
eye, really belongs to the island : for the poor, 
who have a birth-right to parochial relief, or 
who, not thus entitled, owe their poverty to age, 
infirmity, or unavoidable misfortune, are so liber- 
ally provided for by public charity, that their 
wants are scarcely known to any but the persons 
engaged in proffering them the succour they 
stand in need of. 

The means of obtaining a comfortable liveli- 



48 

hood being within the reach of our labouring 
classes ; and that domestic happiness, which de- 
pends on a sufficiency, being more extensively 
spread in this favoured spot than in most places, 
it might be expected that no lack of wholesome 
food should exist in any order of this community. 
Nevertheless, as far as regards our rural popula- 
tion, the strictures of some writers on the Jersey 
diet are not altogether unmerited ; for although 
much of what has been said on that matter be- 
trays prejudice, and superficial observation, still 
it cannot be denied that, in the country, our 
people do not often partake of a fare sufficiently 
substantial. Their regimen is too vegetable ; the 
bit of pork, with which the standing dish of soup 
is made, being but sparingly dealt out on most 
tables. This habit of feeding on abundance of 
warm innutritious soup is, I believe, adhered to 
from the idea that hunger is thus appeased at 
the least expense ; and it is so general that it 
has become a sort of second nature. A depar- 
ture from it would be accounted an act of extra- 
vagance by the thrifty housewife. Hence the 



49 

preference given to a French over an English 
labourer, the latter of whom will not accommo- 
date himself to a diet so different from that, 
which he has been accustomed to. Even medical 
advice, in sickness, cannot always prevail in in- 
ducing a change in the customary diet. I am 
far from advocating animal food as essential to 
the vigour of a hardworking man : there are too 
many proofs to the contrary ; but I entertain a 
strong objection to meals so liquid as they are 
generally made in the rural districts of this 
Island. And, therefore, the quantity of meat 
consumed by our farmers, and their labourers, is 
here animadverted upon, not so much because it 
is small, as because the manner in which it is ap- 
plied to the sustenance of the body is not the 
most judicious. Perhaps this view of the pre- 
sent question may address itself more forcibly to 
the good sense of those it concerns, than the ri- 
dicule by which some w 7 riters have attempted to 
arrive at the same end. 

The diet of the inhabitants of St. Helier is 
more substantial ; and, therefore, not open to 
the foregoing animadversions. 



50 

Strange as it may appear, there is not much 
fish consumed in this Island, unless we except 
mackerel, and oysters, in their seasons. From 
causes which it is not necessary to comment 
upon in a work of this nature, the price of that 
article of food, in the market, prohibits it from 
the table of the poor man. The conger-eel, and 
the dog-fish, it is true, are more abundantly sup- 
plied ; and the former serves for a favourite soup. 
Both are, also, very commonly salted and dried; 
but they are not eaten in such quantities as to 
deserve any particular notice. 



CHAP. II. 

CLIMATE OF JERSEY. 

The island of Jersey, from its situation and 
small extent, enjoys a remarkably mild climate : 
so mild indeed, that, in regard to temperature 
simply, it will be found superior to most neigh- 
bouring places, and equal to many in more 
southern latitudes. But by the same causes, 
also, the air is rendered habitually damp, inde- 
pendently of the nature of the surface, and the 
quantity of rain that falls ; and it is, doubtless, 
from the combination of those two qualities, 
mildness and humidity, that the climate borrows 
its most obvious peculiarities. Beyond this ge- 
neral description, scarcely anything has hither- 



52 

to been written on the present subject : therefore, 
the facts I will have to offer in corroboration of 
what has already been established by other testi- 
mony, will also be made use of on this occasion, 
to illustrate particular points, as yet unnoticed, 
though not the less interesting, in a practical 
point of view. The object of this chapter, then, 
will be twofold, viz., 1st. to place what has been 
correctly stated concerning the climate of the 
island, on a better basis than mere assertion : — 
2dly, to supply facts, by means of which the 
minuter qualities of the same climate may be 
appreciated, and its properties as a remedial 
agent better understood. 



TEMPERATURE. 

From observations continued during five suc- 
cessive years, (for the details of which I must 
refer the reader to the Synoptical Tables at the 
end of this volume,) it has appeared, that the 
mean temperature at St. Helier's, averages 
53°,06. In the same lapse of time, the entire 



53 

range of the mercury in the thermometer was 
62°,— the two extremes being 88°, and 26°. Hav- 
ing made this statement, I need scarcely add, 
that my diary was kept with a registering ther- 
mometer. Atmospheric heat, averaged on the 
whole month, arrives at its maximum in Au- 
gust, and is at the lowest level in January ; from 
which extremes the ascent and descent are rather 
irregular, viewed in successive months, the great- 
est variation occurring between the two last of 
Autumn, when the fall averages 7°,23, and the 
two last of Spring, when the rise is 7°. The 
mean variation between successive months is 
only 3°,67. On the whole, however, heat, in its 
range throughout the year, is subject to some 
sudden movements towards either extreme ; as 
may be seen by the following table, which shows, 
moreover, that the rise is progressive during the 
seven first months of the year ; after which the 
fall is more or less gradual, during the re- 
maining five months. The variations in the fall, 
are, generally, greater than in the rise of tem- 
perature. 



54 

VARIATIONS OF THE " MEAN TEMPERATURE" OF 
SUCCESSIVE MONTHS. 

From January to February... 3°,04 rise. 

Feb. " March 1,11 

March " April 4,34 

April " May 6,99 

May " June 4,25 

June " July 2,19 

July " August 0,12 

August " September 3,90 fall 

Sept. " October 4,17 " 

October " November. .. .7,23 " 

Nov. " December.... 3,15 " 

Dec. " January 3,69 " 



u 



c; 



a 



a 



i. 



The three summer months differ very little 
from one another in their mean temperature, the 
greatest variation, which occurs between the two 
first, being little more than two degrees. Con- 
sidered in a similar point of view, Winter comes 
next ; then Autumn ; and last of all Spring. 
Arranged according to their mean temperature, 
the months stand thus : — 1 August ; 2 July ; 



55 

3 Juiie ; 4 September ; 5 May ; 6 October ; 7 
April ; 8 November ; 9 March ; 10 December ; 
11 February; 12 January. 1 he above general 
results are very nearly in accordance with the 
phenomena of each year in particular. 

The mean variation of temperature in two suc- 
cessive days is nearly the same in all the months 
and seasons, — a circumstance, which, on account 
of its apparent contradiction with what has just 
been stated in regard to the variations of suc- 
cessive months, shows, that before coming to 
general inferences touching the peculiarities of a 
climate, we should consider its several elements 
in every possible point of view. For example, 
it needs only a little reflection to perceive that 
although the mean degree of heat may be equal 
in successive days, these may yet differ widely 
one from the other, with respect to the manner 
in which heat has been distributed to each sepa- 
rately : for the data, whose mean ratios are thus 
compared, may, in fact, be very dissimilar; ex- 
cess on the one hand, compensating deficiency on 
the other, or the reverse. The same remark will 



56 

apply to the months. It is evident, therefore, 
that conclusions drawn from one order of facts 
only might be very fallacious in practice. The 
mean variation of successive days at St. Helier 
is 2°,41 . Between Spring, and Summer, the 
average difference of temperature is 1 1°,87 ; be- 
tween Summer and Autumn 8°,21 ; between Au- 
tumn and Winter, 10°.81 ; between Winter and 
Spring 7°, 15. The difference between the mean 
temperature of the warmest month, and that of 
the coldest, averaged on five years, was only 
22°,14. 

In considering the phenomena of atmospheric 
heat with reference to its influence on the body, 
there is, I think, no point more deserving of at- 
tention than its ranges ; nor does a difference in 
the mean temperature, or variation, constitute so 
good a ground of distinction between two cli- 
mates. The ranges, I need scarcely observe, 
comprehend the variations, between the two ex- 
tremes of temperature, in twenty-four hours, or 
in the months, the seasons, or the year. Whe- 
ther the constitution may adapt itself better to 



57 

great and frequent alternations of heat and cold 
in successive days, months, or seasons, than to 
similar changes in the shorter periods which 
compose the day; — or whether the means we 
possess of controuling either be more effectual 
in the one case than in the other, — are questions 
upon which I am not at present prepared to offer 
an opinion. But it needs only a moderate ac- 
quaintance with this subject to see clearly, that 
the mean variation of temperature, as commonly 
stated in meteorological reports, can lead to no 
safe inference, unless it be viewed in conjunction 
with equally careful observations on the ranges 
and distribution of heat, during the same periods. 
Hence the comparative worthlessness of obser- 
vations confined to the day. 

The mean daily range at St. Helier's, on five 
years of observations by the register thermome- 
ter, was 11°,70; a result which proves of itself, 
that whatever excess may exist in the tempera- 
ture of the air in this island, compared with 
other climates, such excess is principally refera- 
ble to the lower extreme, or, in other words, to 

H 



58 

the night. For, were it owing to a higher de- 
gree of heat during the day only, the extent of 
range must obviously be increased in the same 
proportion. Now, in this particular, the seasons 
differ very materially, Winter and Summer oc- 
cupying the two extremes, as may be seen by 
the following statement. 

Winter :— 7,56. 

Autumn : — 10,G0. 

Spring:— 12,60. 

Summer : — 15,93. 
With respect to the monthly range of tempe- 
rature, which, according to the same observa- 
tions, averages 28,34, the same order is pre- 
served by the seasons. 

Winter:— 22,13. 

Autumn:— 27,37. 

Spring : — 30,13. 

Summer : — 33,73. 
We may here notice a degree of accordance 
between the data relative to the days, and those 
relative to the months, which is not observable 
in the variation of temperature. 



59 

In the more elevated parts of the island, par- 
ticularly near the northern, and eastern coasts, 
atmospheric heat averages from one to two de- 
grees less than at St. Helier's ; and, in some 
cases, the difference is much greater yet. This 
observation holds good in both extremes • but 
especially in the lower, a sharp frost being no 
uncommon event in exposed situations, when no 
such thing has been experienced in the lower, 
and more sheltered places. For the same rea- 
son, heaps of unthawed snow may frequently be 
seen, in the country, on the road-side, many 
days after all traces of it have vanished from 
the town, and its vicinity. 

Dr. Thomas Young, in his learned Essays,* 
observes, that " it would be desirable that some 
" journal should be kept at one of the Scilly 
" islands, or at Guernsey or Jersey, as a situation 
" fully exposed to the influence of the sea air; 
" for there can be little doubt, that for equa- 
" bility of temperature, a very small island must 
" have great advantages above every other sitir- 

* Vide Medical Literature and Practical Nosology — Page 582. 



60 

" v ation on shore. 5 ' So far as a journal kept, 
during five successive years, with great attention 
and scarcely any interruption, may be deemed 
as furnishing that desideratum, the suggestion 
of this scientific writer has now been attended 
to ; and it has become possible to ascertain whe- 
ther the results he anticipated are in reality 
borne out by direct observation. Among the 
milder situations of the south and south-west 
coast of England, there is not one, to which the 
south coast of Jersey (including, of course, the 
town of St. Helier,) approximates so nearly, as 
Penzance. This is advanced in regard to all 
the elements of climate, but, more especially, to 
temperature.* In mean annual temperature, 
however, there is an excess in favour of the 
island, amounting to very nearly one degree : 
which excess is referrible to the seasons of sum- 
mer and autumn, the other seasons compensa- 
ting each other almost exactly in the two situa- 
tions. The Spring is warmer in Jersey by 1°,31 ; 
and the Winter colder by 0°,84 ; whilst in the 

* Vide Dr. James Clark's Meteorological Tables, appended to hi* 
elaborate work on the Influence of Climate, &c. &c. 



61 

Summer and Autumn, together, the island sur- 
passes Penzance, in regard to heat, by 3°,14. 
It is, however, in Summer that the excess on 
the side of Jersey is the most remarkable, being 
as much as 2°,34. The progression of tempe- 
rature through the months, from one extreme 
to the other, appears more gradual in Jersey 
than at the Land's End : — the variations being 
decidedly less in the Spring and the Autumn.* 
These differences, however, are of trifling im- 
portance, compared with those which exist be- 
tween the two localities, with regard to equability 
of temperature. In this point of view, Jersey 
lays claim to a superiority, which, undoubtedly, 
more than counterbalances its disadvantages in 
other respects. Its climate, in Winter, is, in- 
deed, singularly favoured, and fully proves the 
correctness of Dr. Young's conclusion, quoted 
above. The mean of the daily variations, in that 
season, at St. Helier's, averages only 2°,30, whilst 
at Penzance, it amounts to 3°,80 : and a similar 
superiority is maintained throughout the other 

* Vide Page 54 of this Essay. 



62 

seasons, though in minor degrees.* Now, as the 
Winter and Spring seasons are, of all others, the 
most deserving of attention, when we consider 
a climate, with reference to its influence on di- 
sease, it must, I think, be admitted, that the 
peculiarity last adverted to, gives to the south 
coast of Jersey a no small degree of excellence 
over the situation, with which it has, here, been 
compared, on the question of temperature. 
Concerning the monthly and daily ranges of 
temperature, I cannot speak so positively ; as 
some computations have been made with com- 
mon thermometers, and relate to the day only ; 
whereas the data I have collected, relative to 
this climate, are all from observations made with 
the registering thermometer. Nevertheless, I 
am inclined to think, that, in that quality also, 
Jersey possesses decided advantages over the 
Land's End, as a winter climate. 



WINDS. 

On an average of five years, it appears that 
the N. E. wind is the most prevalent of any in 

* Vide Tables 1 & 4, at the end of this volume, and Dr. Clark's, op. cit. 



63 

Jersey; and, also, that the month of April is 
the most obnoxious to its rigorous effects, 
which are the more felt in that season, on ac- 
count of its blowing with superior force. In 
May, and in July, it is likewise frequent, with 
this essential difference, however, that in the 
former it is oftentimes high and cutting, while 
in the latter it is, for the most part, gentle, and 
accompanies fine clear weather. In November, 
its chilling qualities turn one's thoughts to the 
approaching winter ; and it then alternates much 
with the no less disagreeable wind, the north- 
west. From the same series of observations, it 
may be concluded, that nearly two-thirds of the 
year in this island are occupied by western 
breezes; and, after north-east, as which no single 
wind is so common, the south-west and west are, 
doubtless, the most conspicuous. Next in degree 
of frequency stands the north-west. In some 
years, the wind will blow from either of these 
three points for several weeks together, without 
passing once on the other side of the northern 
and southern points. In such cases the weather 



64 

is a succession of heavy continuous showers, 
violent gales with small drizzly rain, or big dark 
clouds with fierce squalls of rain and hail, accord- 
ing; as the wind moves in one or other of these 
directions. A great deal has been said of the 
pernicious qualities of the north-east; but I 
apprehend north-west is no less to be objected to 
in this island : for, if when the first sets in the 
sky be generally overcast, and the air very chill, 
the presence of the latter gives a wild and bois- 
terous character to the weather, from the effects 
of which it is at least as difficult to protect the 
invalid. To this may be added a very important 
consideration ; which is, that the north-west is 
a very unsteady wind, liable to constant alterna- 
tions with the west, and, consequently, seldom 
prevailing without occasioning very sensible and 
sudden variations of temperature. This espe- 
cially happens when it is attended by occasional 
showers of hail, as is frequently the case, in the 
latter part of the Autumn. Even in the warm- 
est months this wind is never entirely free from 
some of the bad qualities here mentioned ; and 



6b 

it is rarely, if ever, consistent with an agreeable 
state of the weather. Its favorite months seem 
to be August, October, September and March, 
in the order here given to them. With the ex- 
ception I have just noticed, the western breezes 
are warm, and genial ; and to the remarkable 
prevalence of the south-west in particular may 
be chiefly attributed the mild character of the 
winter in this island. The west wind, is, gene- 
rally less favourable, because of its occasional 
violence; constituting almost exclusively the se- 
vere gales to which we are every now and then 
exposed, in certain seasons of the year. It should 
be observed, however, that although, from its 
situation, Jersey be necessarily exposed to very 
strong currents of air, yet these are more inno- 
cent in their effects, than if the surface of the 
island were less woody, or less uniform. There 
are but few prominences whose position and 
elevation can, in any degree, increase the fury 
of the agitated element by obstructing it in its 
regular course : hence the comparatively small 
amount of injury occasioned by hurricanes, which, 



66 

higher-up in the English Channel, and on the 
neighbouring coast of France, are so often at- 
tended by serious and extensive accidents. 

The above statement, touching the compara- 
tive prevalence of certain winds, requires some 
explanation : for it should not be forgotten, that 
in average calculations, such as Table 8, con- 
sists of, it would hardly be possible to show the 
special habits of each wind. Now, the latter 
consideration is one of extreme importance in 
this inquiry, inasmuch as without it the real ef- 
fect of any comparative prevalence on climate, 
cannot be correctly estimated. In my meteoro- 
logical diary, whenever a day was divided be- 
tween different breezes, these were all set down 
without any reference to their respective dura- 
tions. Perhaps a better plan might have been 
adopted ; hut the one I adopted was, at least, 
kept free from the obscuring intricacy of very 
minute, and numerous observations. However, 
I am ready to confess, that the general results 
of my calculation of the average number of 
days, on which each wind prevailed throughout 



67 

the years, where somewhat unexpected, as 
regarded the North-East. Little was I 
prepared, by my general observations on this 
climate, to assign to that wind the first rank in 
respect to prevalence ; and I therefore took some 
pains to discover the source of what I doubted 
not was a fallacy. And such, in truth, it was : for, 
on closer examination, it became easy to perceive, 
that the numbers under each head in the table, be- 
ing composed of whole days, and parts of days, the 
total amount might be more the product of the 
latter than of the former periods, and vice versa. 
In this view of the subject, the West and South- 
West winds differ widely from the North-East, 
their prevalence being chiefly based on the time 
during which they continue, whenever they set 
in ; whilst, on the contrary, the North-East, 
though it sometimes reigns continuously for 
many days, is rather characterized by the fre- 
quency than the length of its visits. Hence it is, 
that in opposition to what would appear from a 
gross calculation only, the climate of this island 
derives more of its peculiarities from the western 



68 

than the eastern breezes ; the former bestowing 
mildness on our winter, whilst the latter, in assi- 
milating our spring with that of other situations, 
do not, however, exercise their influence in a 
degree, sufficient to constitute a distinguishing 
character. 



RAIN. 

I have to regret my inability to supply any 
positive information touching the quantity of 
rain which falls in this island ; but I believe it 
to be at least equal to what has been observed in 
any part of the southern and western coasts of 
England. Such an estimate must, of course, de- 
pend on the nature of the showers, as well as on 
their repetition ; and here they are, for the most 
part copious, and w 7 ould, therefore, give a high 
result, if measured with a rain-gauge. The aver- 
age number of days on which rain fell in any 
quantity, in five years, was only 129 annually, 
which proportion is inferior to those stated in 
the authentic tables appended to Dr. James 
Clark's excellent work on climate, in regard to 



69 

London, Sidmouth, and Penzance. Nevertheless, 
that Jersey offers a very rainy climate is a very 
prevalent opinion among its residents ; and al- 
though such an opinion is not exactly borne out 
by strict observation, a reason may be found for 
its general adoption. Surrounded as our small 
island is by a large expanse of water, the evapo- 
ration of the moisture retained by its surface 
after heavy showers, must of necessity be much 
slower than in high inland situations, or even on 
the coasts of more extensive countries ; and, 
consequently, it requires a longer interval of dry 
weather to dispel the tcedium of a succession of 
gloomy days. And, should clouds again gather, 
before this has been effected, the respite enjoyed 
fails to be appreciated. This is especially the 
case in the town, owing to its low level, and yet 
deficient drainage ; while, in the country, the ad- 
vantages of a more airy situation are almost en- 
tirely lost in the shelter, which most roads receive 
from their woody embankments. 

The months of April, May, June, July and 
August, are certainly more free from rain, in this 
island, than in England. 



70 



ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE. 

Of barometric observations little could be said, 
that would throw additional light on the subject 
of the present chapter. However, I am inclined 
to think, from a consideration of my register 
under that head, that, in this island, the oscilla- 
tions of the mercurial column are remarkably 
frequent. Nor are these always faithful indica- 
tions of the sort of weather, high atmospheric 
pressure not being found incompatible with the 
longest and heaviest showers of rain, during; a 
north-easterly wind. I was once much amused 
with the effects of a great depression of the mer- 
cury in dial barometers, many of which un- 
derwent a complete revolution, the point of the 
index having of a sudden wheeled round, contra- 
ry-wise, from stormy to set-fair! The owners 
had never observed such a phenomenon before, 
and were, of course, somewhat puzzled at the 
time. Here, there is a barometer in almost 
every house, and it is frequently consulted. 

A few general observations may be necessary 
to complete this description of the climate of 
Jersey. 



71 

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 

The island certainly enjoys an early Spring-, 
and a lengthened Autumn, vegetation being usu- 
ally active and forward in March, and the land- 
scape far from naked so late as the end of De- 
cember. The dreary aspect of Winter, then, is 
comparatively short-lived. But the season of 
Spring is marked by the same unsteadiness of 
temperature, and harsh variable weather, as in 
most spots under a similar latitude : and this 
disadvantage is particularly felt in May, which 
often fails to bring with it the expected enjoy- 
ments. Generally speaking, our March is mild, 
compared with what it is in neighbouring places ; 
giving a mean temperature nearly three degrees 
above that of Gosport, and also superior, by 
about one degree, to Newport, Sidmouth and 
Helston. October possesses a still greater supe- 
riority, in the same respect : consequently, the 
genial qualities of this climate may be made 
available to the invalid, to whose case they are 
applicable, during a period of six months. In 
diseases which require the avoidance of great 



72 

ranges and variations of temperature, the objec- 
tionable qualities of the months of April, and 
May, though in a certain degree tempered by 
the causes which mitigate the severity of our 
Winter, are, nevertheless, such as to call for 
great care in the use of exercise in the open air. 
To those who quit warm clothing, or in any 
other way relax in their precautions against the 
effects of cold, by anticipation, these months too 
often prove very dangerous. Bating this cir- 
cumstance, a securer spot could scarce be found 
by a numerous class of English invalids, within 
a much greater distance from their homes. The 
Summer is generally, and always comparatively, 
dry and cool, restricting, of course, the meaning 
of the words to the quantity of rain, and the 
mitigating influence of the surrounding ocean 
upon the power of the sun's rays: Calm sultry 
weather is not common; and when it does occur, 
is usually of short duration. Nor is the island 
visited by thunder storms so often as more ex- 
tensive tracts of land. The winter, however, is 
the season which of all others contributes the 



73 

most to the peculiarities of this climate. With 
rare exceptions, it passes off in soft, rainy, or 
windy weather, with intervals of astonishingly 
mild days, and with scarcely any frost or snow. 
Even in the most rigorous years, the latter me- 
teors are far more transitory than in the south- 
ern districts of England; and it is, indeed, quite 
a memorable event to see snow a foot deep ; 
still more to see it remain on the ground upwards 
of a week. Although a Jersey winter may ap- 
pear depressing, and wearisome to some persons, 
from the absence of those sports, by which, in 
colder countries, the rigour of the season be- 
comes a source of pleasurable excitement to the 
healthy ; still, it must be acknowledged that, as 
respects disease, it cannot but offer many advan- 
tages. By reason of the mildness, trifling range 
and variations of temperature, chronic disorders 
proceed slowly towards their terminations ; a cir- 
cumstance of no mean import, since, by allowing 
more time for the operations of nature and art, 
it adds to the chances of recovery, in cases not 
absolutely hopeless. The qualities of this cli- 

K 



74 

mate, in that particular, must have, often, been 
rendered obvious to the practitioner in the treat- 
ment of incipient pulmonary affections. I am, 
however, inclined to think these qualities are not 
sufficiently appreciated ; and invalids too often, 
and unnecessarily, suffer from a protracted con- 
finement to the house, although, with a little 
energy on their parts, and proper directions from 
the medicalman, many an hour might have been 
profitably spent in the open air. It need scarce- 
ly be observed, that the act of venturing out of 
doors ought not to be made chargeable with the 
injurious consequences of a neglect of proper 
precautions. During the dull and monotonous 
prevalence of wet weather, which characterises 
most of our winters, much languor and discou- 
ragement is often observable in convalescent 
patients. The real cause of this, viz. adherence 
to the fireside, and want of exercise of the open 
air, is too frequently the last to be thought of. 
In this climate, there is scarcely a season, during 
which a moderate enjoyment of the open air may 
not be permitted to the delicate. To illustrate 



75 

this point, I, of late, noted down the days, in 
which a drive or a walk might have been taken 
with safety by such individuals, during two hours 
about noon, in the coldest months ; and the num- 
ber of such days has proved far greater than 
might have been imagined at first, being, on an 
average, 7 for December, 5 for January, and 9 
for February. In this island, the invalid who is 
sensible of the importance of out-of-door exer- 
cise, need not despair of having his desires in 
this respect gratified, because of a stormy night, 
or a rainy morning : for such weather is often- 
times followed by a calm state of the air, with a 
genial degree of heat; and such intervals, though 
short, may yet be turned by him to very good 
account, if he be prepared to seize the fleeting 
opportunity. 

Were we to confine ourselves to thermometric 
data, in judging of the climate of Jersey, there 
is no doubt we might be drawn into very erro- 
neous inferences. In regard to mere tempera- 
ture, mildness, and equability give it a degree 
of superiority over others, which, if considered 



76 

alone, and independently of countervailing dis- 
advantages, would, certainly, invest it with a 
character, which does not belong to it in other 
respects. For example, separate from the vari- 
ations of heat, the air, in this island, suffers fre- 
quent and extensive changes as to moisture ; and 
the latter vicissitudes are perhaps more sensibly 
felt by the body, than any other modification of 
the physical state of the atmosphere. Vapour, 
it is well known, though at the same temperature 
as the air, will appear much below it, if tested 
by our sensations ; and, owing to this cause, in 
certain conditions of the atmosphere, the weather 
is characterised by a rawness, not denoted by 
any proportionate depression of the mercury in 
the thermometer. This often occurs just as the 
sky is lowering for rain, the wind having shifted 
from the north-east to the south-west, and the 
thermometer indicating a rise in the temperature 
of the air ; and it shows how cautious we ought 
to be in drawing inferences from facts supplied 
by physical instruments only. The sensations of 
heat and cold, though less certain guides, be- 



77 

cause of the want of uniformity in the sensibili- 
ties of different individuals, are, nevertheless, 
entitled to the most serious attention. I have, 
more than once, heard persons, who had expe- 
rienced both, declare themselves less able to bear 
the sort of weather here alluded to, than the 
more rigorous, and less searching cold of north- 
ern latitudes ; the same persons assuring me, 
likewise, that under the latter, a reaction to the 
surface of the body was much more readily 
brought about, and catarrhal affections propor- 
tionally less prevalent. This observation is in 
perfect accordance with the fact, that humidity 
greatly increases the effects of a low temperature 
on the body. 

Besides mildness and humidity, a third quality 
has generally been ascribed to the climate of 
Jersey, viz. a relaxing action on the constitution. 
But, regarding this point, opinion enjoys a much 
greater latitude, since such a property is far less 
susceptible of being demonstrated than the two 
others. Relaxing is the opposite of Bracing ; 
but the absence of the one character does not 



78 

necessitate the presence of the other. On the 
contrary, they constitute extremes, separated by 
many intermediate degrees ; and this climate may 
be considered as occupying a place equally dis- 
tant from both. It ought to be recollected, that 
mildness of temperature is not, here, derived 
from a sheltered situation, but from the neigh- 
bourhood of a wide expanse of water, which ab- 
sorbs or radiates caloric, according as it is in 
excess, or otherwise, in the superincumbent air. 
On the other hand, the humid state of our atmos- 
phere is principally due to insular situation ; not 
to the nature of the ground. For, the greater 
part of the meadows and marshes are shallow, 
and possess a reclination, which prevents any 
great accumulation of water. Moreover, as has 
already been shown, in regard to the frequency 
of rain, the island is far from being chargeable 
with a degree of dampness, greater than that of 
the neighbouring parts of England ; since, in 
truth, the number of rainy days appears some- 
what less than in those situations. In its con- 
formation, Jersey offers a moderately elevated, 



79 

and dry country, where the table land greatly 
predominates over the low grounds. With few 
exceptions, the numerous small vallies, by which 
the surface is undulated, are kept dry by a suffi- 
cient inclination towards the coast, near which 
only is found any considerable extent of marshy 
ground. The humidity of this climate, there- 
fore, is very similar to that of the open sea, the 
air of which, though saturated with moisture, is 
not usually thought relaxing. In fact, the phy- 
sical condition of our population, as described in 
the preceding chapter, is strongly opposed to the 
supposition, that the general qualities of the air 
tend here to relax and debilitate the habit of 
body. A bloated lymphatic individual forms the 
rarest exception to the temperament, which I 
have stated as the most prevalent among the 
native population of the island. From careful 
observations, I have been led to believe that the 
persons, who have represented this climate as 
being of a relaxing nature, have done so without 
due reflection. Such an opinion may have been 
advanced on the authority of others ; or, mayhap, 



80 

it was conceived from personal experience ; but, 
whichever may have been the case, it is probable, 
that individual instances engrossed more of the 
attention, than the general facts upon which the 
judgment ought to rest in questions of that na- 
ture. Residents soon perceive that this climate 
possesses certain peculiarities ; these form fre- 
quent topics of conversation, are often misunder- 
derstood, or exaggerated : and hence, perhaps, 
has arisen a disposition to refer every variation 
of health to atmospheric agencies. But in regard 
to the opinion here alluded to, it ought to be 
borne in mind, that an alteration of the usual 
habits, — a change from an active to a sedentary 
mode of life, for example, — will tend as much to 
induce languor, or relax the constitution, as any 
property that may belong to the climate. Now, 
I here mention one only, out of a multitude of 
causes, productive of a similar effect on the body, 
though not so generally the objects of suspicion 
as climate with individuals, whose sojourn in the 
island has not been advantageous to them in re- 
gard to health. It is remarkable, however, that 



81 

the pretended relaxing nature of the climate is 
not, anywise, exhibited in the labouring classes, 
and that it is in the higher orders only, that in- 
stances occur, of a kind to give support of such 
a supposition. This observation would, alone, 
render the grounds of the opinion I have here 
examined extremely questionable. 

The neutral character here assigned to the 
climate of Jersey, in respect to the two opposite 
qualities under consideration, is that, I believe, 
which strictly belongs to it. But, notwithstand- 
ing the conclusion I have come to, I am still free 
to admit the relaxing influence of this climate 
on persons, who have exchanged a high inland si- 
tuation for that which our island affords. This 
effect is particularly remarked in young females, 
during the first months of their residence in this 
country ; after which, under proper management, 
it quickly disappears. The manner in which the 
action of a milder, and less bracing climate dis- 
plays itself, in such cases, cannot be particular- 
ized in a popular work. It is, therefore, only as 
regards the generalization of the fact, and the 

L 



82 

consequent inference, that I have deemed it 
necessary to offer the ahove remarks. 

As a more familiar, though not the less im- 
portant, illustration of the nature of this climate, 
I will now lay before the reader some interesting 
facts, touching the acclimatization of tropical 
plants : — from which facts it will be seen, that, 
seconded by art, the mildness and equability of 
atmospheric temperature, in Jersey, might be 
as, iu fact, it has already been, advantageously 
applied to the extension of the vegetable tribes, 
which resist the inclemencies of the northern 
parts of the temperate latitudes. Not a few of 
the more rare shrubs, plants, and seeds, which 
require stove heat in England, may be raised 
here, first in greenhouses, and afterwards trans- 
ferred to the open ground. My accomplished 
friend, Colonel LeCouteur, of whose shrewdness, 
and enlightened spirit of observation, the British 
public has had sufficient proof, by his work on 
the Varieties, Properties, and Classification of 
Wheat, lately published, has informed me of his 
having succeeded, many years back, in raising a 



83 

Mesphilus Japonica from seed, which has, ever 
since, stood out in the open ground, with the 
single protection of a hundle of straw, during 
part of the winter. He has, likewise, an Acacia, 
the seed of which was brought him from Ceylon. 
The Canna Jndica ripens its seed constantly un- 
der this sky, as do equally the Ixias, many An- 
tholizce, and Amarylli. Mr. Bernard Saunders' 
answer to the query I addressed to him on the 
same subject is still more interesting. A long and 
extensive experience has convinced this talented 
gardener of the propitious qualities of this cli- 
mate for the naturalization of delicate exotics ; 
and he mentions several natives of the East In- 
dies, Cape of Good Hope, Brazils, Mexico, New 
Holland, New Zealand, and China, which, under 
his own care, have here flowered, and perfected 
their seeds in the open air, without even the as- 
sistance of a wall, or other protection. He doubts 
not, that many others, if fairly treated, might be 
added to his list. 

The following are those, which, from their su- 
perior delicacy, have furnished the most striking 



84 

results : — Lablab 'purpureas ; Erythrina cristi 
galli ; Melianthus major ; Vestia Lycioides ; 
Edivardsia mycrophylla ; Cobcea scandens. 
The higher, and more airy situations on the 
south side of the island are, undoubtedly, those, 
where such experiments are conducted with the 
best chance of success. Tn the lower situations, 
and particularly near St. Helier's, the air is less 
favourable, being damper, and impregnated with 
extraneous substances, such as smoke, detrimen- 
tal to the health of tender plants; besides which 
a greater exposure to sea fogs, and greater 
humidity of soil, by rendering plants more lym- 
phatic, rentier them more liable to suffer from 
frost. The months most inimical to exotics in 
this region are February, March, and April, on 
account of white frost, and north-east wind ; and 
October and November, by reason of the preva- 
lence of strong westerly gales. From the fore- 
going facts it may, I think, be concluded, that 
Jersey presents extraordinary advantages, as a 
medium climate, for the acclimatization of tro- 



85 

pical plants, preparatory to similar trials in 
more northern, and less favoured countries. 

I have had several opportunities of noticing a 
fact, which is strikingly in accordance with the 
latter inference. Persons, who, from a long 
residence in tropical climates, the East Indies, 
for example, have been rendered incapable of 
resisting the cold of their native land, generally 
experience decided benefit from one or two win- 
ters spent in this island. Several cases have come 
under my observation of individuals of either 
sex, from England and Scotland, who, with natu- 
ral and unreflecting predilection, had, on their re- 
turn from India, hastened to their native places, 
but from which, soon after, they were obliged 
to fly, as from almost certain death ; and who, 
having resorted to this milder climate, as a pre- 
paratory step, had afterwards returned home, 
with perfect impunity to health. 



CHAP. Ill, 
DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ST. HELIER. 

SITUATION AND TOPOGRAPHY. — GEOLOGICAL 
OBSERVATIONS. 

St. Helier, the capital town of Jersey, is si- 
tuated on its south side, in the bay of St. Aubin, 
which is the most beautiful and capacious of all 
those presented by the sinuous coast of the Is- 
land. Lodged in a recess at the eastern extre- 
mity of the curve, described by the main land in 
forming the bay, it borrows a degree of shelter 
from the surrounding heights, and, likewise, 
from the detached hill now occupied by Fort 
Regent. In most parts, however, the elevation 
of these heights is too trifling, and the angle at 



87 

which they meet the flat ground below too open, 
to enable them to afford much shelter bevond 
a short distance from their bases ; and the cen- 
tral parts of the town, therefore, feel little, if 
any portion, of it. The figure of this tract is 
that of a horse-shoe open to the south. There, 
the point of the detached hill already mentioned 
enters it, spreading its base rather nearer to the 
centre than the other heights, and leaving, on 
each side, between the termination of the latter 
and itself, a free opening by means of which a 
thorough ventilation is secured to the town. 
Was it not for this exposure to the sea breeze, 
the disadvantages of a low and flat situation 
could not fail to be much more seriously felt, 
than they actually are at St. Helier's. 

Viewed geologically, the above plain repre- 
sents a bason inclining west, and, consequently, 
having one half of its circumference raised near- 
er to the surface than the other half. Its margin 
may be described as running along the bases of 
the several elevations which skirt the plain in 
three-fourths of its circumference, on the side of 



88 

the main land, and then taking a direct course 
from the two ends of the curve to the town-hill, 
the point of which intersects that line obliquely, 
a little to the eastward. A bed of red clay, of va- 
riable thickness, — but generally increasing as it 
recedes from the centre, — forms the superstratum 
and continuous lining of this concave tract reach- 
ing higher at the foot of each hill, and buried near 
the beach under a considerable mass of sand. In 
the intermediate points, the horizontal direction 
of the surface is owing to the accumulation of 
alluvial soil, forming in most parts a thick spongy 
turf, in which an immense body of water is re- 
tained. Interposed between the red clay, and 
the solid rock, are other strata, varying with the 
spots, but, most commonly, observing the follow- 
ing order, and composition : — 1. a grey plastic 
clay, of uncertain thickness, and frequently con- 
taining loose stones ; 2. shingle, sometimes fur- 
nishing a spring of water ; 3. rubbish, or decom- 
posed rock. Next to the latter, is generally 
found the solid rock. Here and there, the num- 
ber of strata is increased, by reason, chiefly, of 



89 

the grey clay and the shingle, succeeding each 
other several times; but there are none that may 
not be classed under one or other of the preced- 
ing divisions. 

The foregoing brief description of the posi- 
tion, form, and geological character of the locale 
of the town of St. Helier, will, I think, be suf- 
ficient to prove, that, without an extensive and 
thorough drainage, it cannot be otherwise than 
extremely damp, and insalubrious. How far 
this condition of its salubrity has hitherto been 
fulfilled, it will presently be my object to shew ; 
as also to prove, that it is far from impracticable, 
and might, on the contrary, be completely ac- 
complished by an ordinary exercise of public 
spirit. 



ASPECT OF THE TOWN. 

St. Helier divides itself into two parts, namely, 
the centre, and the suburbs or out-skirts ; — the 
one, — principally devoted to trade, and public 
business, — a compound of old and new, elegant 
and ugly streets, — places, and dark, filthy lanes : 

M 



90 

— the other, almost a promiscuous asemblage of 
genteel rows of houses, and ranges of low cot- 
tages ; of mansions, and modest habitations. A 
few years ago, the only division of the town, was 
that of upper, and Lower, from the inclination 
of the line over which it was then spread ; and 
there were no suburbs, — but gardens, and mea- 
dows occupied their place. I believe, that, 
within the last twenty years, the number of 
houses has been more than doubled. Up to the 
present day, a corresponding increase of popula- 
tion has taken place ; and it would appear as if 
want of space would be the only check to the inde- 
finite extension of our prosperous town. The 
number of inhabitants cannot now be far short 
of twenty thousand. With a few creditable 
exceptions, the streets of St. Helier's have been 
laid out without regularity ; nor have their pro- 
portions and style of building any relation to the 
importance they have now acquired as the tho- 
roughfares of a rich, and populous town. And 
it is much to be regretted, that opportunities of 
improving the older streets, when they have pre- 



91 

seated themselves, have not always been taken 
advantage of by the public; and that an angu- 
lar projection, or a sharp corner, or an unsightly 
object, has too often been permitted to rise 
again upon its ruins, because the public purse 
was kept closed for matters of that description. 

It is evident that St. Helier's was not founded 
with a view to its present importance. But 
some of the modern streets are well built; and, at 
a little distance from the centre of business, may 
be seen rows of buildings, which would not dis- 
grace some of the best English country-towns. 
To persons unconnected with business, or to 
mere temporary residents, the latter districts 
offer very suitable accommodation. In the 
out-skirts, are found rows of houses, and detach- 
ed dwellings, fully adapted to a respectable, nay, 
a fashionable style of living. 

That a town, important by the extent of its 
commerce, should still retain marks of a low 
origin, is a feature, which can only serve to place 
the power of industry in a stronger light. But 
that the capital town of a wealthy island, subject 



92 

to a nation famed for its attention to whatever 
relates to general convenience, should leave so 
much to be desired in the latter respect, as is 
the case in St. Helier's, is a circumstance which 
no argument could palliate. I here allude to 
certain nuisances in the more populous parts of 
our town, such as foul deposits in the public 
way, stagnant waters, and ill-contrived drains, 
whose noxious effluvia assail the passenger at 
almost every step. And this, too, whilst civiliza- 
tion and improvement are rapidly advancing in 
every other respect ! Is public health, then, a 
question of so little moment., that it should be 
the last to be consulted ? Assuredly not. It 
is, therefore, high time that this matter be se- 
riously considered, and that the interests of our 
town cease to be injured by evils depending 
solely on the absence of an efficient police, and 
not on the want of laws to prevent them. How- 
ever, proportionate to the pain of discharging 
the repugnant duty of pointing out details, 
which might seem to detract from the merits of 
St. Heller's, as a residence, is the pleasure I feel 



93 

in being able to state, on the high authority of 
Mr. Inglis, that, viewed in comparison with towns 
of equal extent in England, it has no small claims 
to the admiration of the traveller. 

I will now proceed to examine the state of St. 
Helier's, in regard to drainage ; and I trust I 
may be pardoned for treating this important 
subject at some length. 



STATE OF ST. HELIER'S IN REGARD TO 
DRAINAGE. 

Various objections have been raised against 
the locality of this town, some of a political, 
others of a domestic nature. Among the latter, 
the most rational, undoubtedly, is founded on 
the want of natural drainage. Up to a recent 
period, the possibility of remedying this defect 
by artificial means, had been frequently discussed, 
but never tried to any extent. The whole bur- 
den of general drainage had continued to fall on 
two or three shallow streams, flowing from the 
neighbouring vallies, and the varying currents 



94 

of which, through a long and tortuous course, 
were not assisted by a fall of more than eight 
inches for every thousand feet ! This near ap- 
proach to a dead level, joined to the want of a 
solid bottom, and to a very uncertain supply of 
water, rendered the channels in question liable 
to become frequently choked by accumulated de- 
posit ; besides which, under heavy falls of rain, 
their capacity and inclination proved inadequate 
to the office imposed upon them. Consequently, 
inundations in some of the principal thorough- 
fares of the town, were no uncommon occurrences, 
attended, of course, with serious injury to private 
property, and immense inconvenience to the 
public. From such accidents, the upper parts 
of Halkett Place, of Don Street, and New Street, 
all three streets of the first order in this town, 
ere rendered impassable for whole days toge- 
ther ! In fact, nothing could be worse than the 
state of the town, in regard to drainage, with the 
exception of the upper part, which, from its 
superior elevation, drained itself into the lower, 
and far more extensive and populous districts. 



95 

In the infancy of St. Helier's, when it consisted 
merely of a few streets of k>w houses, and a 
small population, the brooks I have just des- 
cribed were not, by any means, such prolific 
sources of nuisance and insalubrity, as they be- 
came in later times. Indeed, being open, and 
freely exposed to the sea-breeze in their course 
through the streets, — and, moreover, not being 
subject to the entire contamination which they 
of necessity suffer now-a-days, — the water which 
ran in them was fit for many domestic uses, and, 
therefore, the vicinity of those streams was con- 
sidered as adding to the value of property. The 
law, too, prohibited the commission of nuisances 
in them. But although the same law is still in 
force, necessity has by this time rendered it a 
dead letter, and its application would involve, in 
heavy penalties and other losses, little less than 
half the householders of the town. 

This objectionable state of things continued 
without amelioration till the year 1832, when the 
dread of the prevailing epidemic of Asiatic Cho- 
lera rendered people more alive to the necessity 



96 

of watching over the public health. A main 
sewer, capable of effecting the drainage of the 
town, was then projected ; but, unfortunately, 
owing to causes, which it is here unnecessary to 
enumerate, the work was not commenced before 
the evils it was intended to prevent had had their 
full effect upon the population. And, as might, 
indeed, have been anticipated, by the mere con- 
sideration of the state of the town, at that time, 
the ravages of the pestilence were most awful in 
this island, both as regarded the number of cases, 
and the relative degree of mortality. Making 
every allowance for the mysterious nature of the 
disease, there are, nevertheless, many reasons 
for believing, that its extension, and fatal ten- 
dency were here greatly promoted by the local 
causes, which I have alluded to. In truth, so 
clear was the connexion between damp and filth, 
and the more ready development of the fearful 
disorder, that it became evident to all parties ; 
and, therefore, the longtalked-of plan of general 
drainage ceased to meet with that opposition, 
which had hitherto prevented its being carried 
into effect. 



97 

The work commenced on that occasion, was, 
however, not completed ; hut enough was ac- 
complished to prove, that the general principles 
of the plan were sound and practicable ; as also, 
that the difficulties, which stood in the way of 
the undertaking, though great, were, in fact, less 
than had been anticipated by most persons. 
This plan was very comprehensive, including 
the entire drainage of the town, by means of a 
channel of suitable dimensions and fall, to enable 
it to discharge twenty-eight tons of water per 
minute, the stream being twelve inches in depth. 
In spite of the low level, and nearly horizontal 
direction of the ground, on which St. Helier's is 
built, its elevation above the lowest part of the 
beach was found to be sufficient, to admit of the 
the laying down of a channel of this description, 
convertible into a main trunk, for the reception 
of tributaries from every street of the town. 
And, moreover, the lowest part of the beach 
was found to be so situated, that, in a course of 
2,400 feet, the drain in question would have 
divided the town in two portions nearly equal; 

N 



98 

by which means the advantages of the work 
would have been very fairly distributed to all 
parts. Such are the principles of our main 
drain, more than one half of which is nearly 
built, and the entire completion of which was 
prevented, not so much by physical obstacles, as 
by want of confidence, on the part of the public, 
in the securities offered by the contractor, for 
accidents, and injuries to private property. At 
all events, whatever other reasons may have 
secretly prevailed, such was the ostensible plea 
set up by the householders, who successfully 
opposed the further progress of this great and 
useful undertaking. It is probable, however, 
that this legal objection would not have had the 
effect of stopping the work, had not the damage 
already done on the line of the excavation, 
through unskilfulness and negligence, greatly 
diminished the spirit of enterprise and perseve- 
rance, which had triumphed over the first, and, 
certainly, most formidable difficulties. As ge- 
nerally happens in such matters, discouragement 
and apathy soon followed; the thing was aban- 



99 

doned in disgust ; and, for a while, no one thought 
of turning to account what had been effected ; 
but, on the contrary, most people were inclined 
to consider it as a lasting monument of folly, 
which would for ever entail inconvenience, ex- 
pense, and danger on the town. Fortunately, 
these forebodings, far from having been realized 
as yet, have already been contradicted by many 
a beneficial result. 



RECENT AMELIORATIONS. 

Until very lately, the portion of the main 
sewer which had been constructed, though suffi- 
cient to effect the proper drainage of a very 
considerable part of the town, (the one, in fact, 
which needed it the most,) had been converted 
to no such purpose, and had had no general use, 
save the prevention of rain-floods. And, as 
doubts were entertained touching the solidity of 
the construction, it did not seem prudent to hazard 
any further expenditure, in attempts that could 
only be successful, if those doubts happened to be 

/LofC. 



100 

unfounded. For, even the decided benefits en- 
joyed by the houses in its immediate vicinity 
were mixed up with the fear of further accidents, 
from the giving-in of the sides of the channel, 
and the consequent effect on the adjoining ground 
and the superincumbent edifices. These appre- 
hensions have now vanished; and, within the last 
year, a fresh impulse would appear to have been 
received by our public, towards the desirable 
end of improved drainage. A very important 
branch was laid down last summer, subdividing 
itself between Brook Street, Church Street, and 
the south side of the Square, with due regard to 
the design by which further ramifications may be 
thrown out to the extreme limits of that side of 
the town. From these first steps in the detailed 
application of the original plan, much hope may, 
I think, be entertained of its entire completion, 
at no distant period. 

A complete system of drainage is, then, still a 
desideratum in St. Helier's; but the foundation 
of improvement in that respect having now been 
laid, as stated, the time cannot be far distant, 



101 

when this important object shall have been 
fully attained. With this evil will vanish all 
rational objections to the site of our town : for, 
if its advantages of situation be fairly considered, 
it must appear evident, that no other spot in the 
island possesses equal claims to preference, in 
the most essential particulars. Indeed, the other 
bays can bear no comparison with that of St. 
Aubin, for dimensions, and capability of being 
adapted to any increase of commercial relations. 
The prevailing error, which consisted in suppo- 
sing it impossible to drain the flat occupied by 
the town, may now be considered exploded for 
ever ; therefore, the further progress of improve- 
ment can suffer no check from such a cause ; and, 
so long as the present evils continue unremedied, 
so long will the inhabitants themselves be alone 
to blame for whatever bad consequences may fall 
upon them, through that cause. Neither can 
the non-completion of the main sewer be fairly 
construed into a failure of the plan ; for it would 
not be difficult to prove, that that circumstance 
was entirely owing to incompetency on the part 



102 

of the engineer, who certainly obscured his me- 
rit as a man of science, by his evident want of 
skill as a practitioner, 

A very striking illustration of the former con- 
dition of St. Helier's, in regard to drainage, was 
offered in the progress of the work already al- 
luded to. The latter had already been carried 
through a mass of sand, as far as the middle of 
Broad Street, when a bank of clay was met with, 
running parallel with the street, and rising up to 
two or three feet only from the surface. No 
sooner had this sort of mole been cut through, 
than a rush of water ensued, so strong as to en- 
danger the masonry already finished, and occasion 
a temporary suspension of the work. The bank 
thus perforated was no other than the margin of 
the bason described in my remarks on the geology 
of the land, over which St. Helier's stretches 
itself. Now, if we reflect on the impermeable 
nature of clay, it will be easy to account for the 
occurrence here mentioned ; since, so long as it 
remained entire, the mass in question, up to its 
level, opposed a dead resistance to the escape of 



103 

the water constantly accumulating in the valley, 
across which it lay, as a kind of barrier. With 
this sudden, and, I believe, unexpected irruption 
of water corresponded a great depression in all 
the old wells of the neighbourhood, some of which 
were thereby rendered useless, because they owed 
their former supply almost entirely to land drain- 
age. It was no longer difficult to explain 
the presence of water at a depth, which pre- 
cluded the convenience of under-ground stories 
in those districts, and seemed to offer the strong- 
est argument against the practicability of making 
a deep excavation in that quarter. For these 
reasons, the salutary action of the drain, even in 
its unfinished state, upon the meadows of St. 
Helier, cannot be questioned ; and, in truth, 
not a few houses in the vicinity have already 
felt the advantages of a less humid state of the 
ground, by the addition of sunk stories, — a con- 
venience of no small value to a trading town. 
This implies not merely a temporary, but rather 
a permanent removal of humidity. There is 
reason to think, however, that these things have 



104 

not yet been duly considered, nor appreciated as 
they ought to be, by the generality of the inha- 
bitants of this town. 



HINTS TOUCHING THE PROPER USES OF 
A MAIN DRAIN. 

It should be recollected, that a sewer, of the 
description above-mentioned, is not of itself capa- 
ble of effecting the entire drainage of the town; 
and, that the benefits it is capable of conferring 
on the latter, can only be rendered evident by se- 
condary drains. Had this been done at once, I 
believe all minds would, by this time, have coin- 
cided in the views of the promoters of that bold 
undertaking. It is clear, also, that unless the 
intention of such a channel be well understood, 
many nuisances may arise out of it, which, 
however, are not fairly chargeable to the prin- 
ciple of the design. For example, if street 
and house gutters are allowed to open directly 
into it, by means of mere gratings, noxious 
effluvia will, of course, escape from its interior, 



105 

and contaminate the surrounding atmosphere. 
To prevent this a rigid surveillance becomes 
necessary ; but all enactments to that effect must 
prove abortive, and, I would almost say, oppress- 
ive, so long as the public do not enjoy the means 
of getting rid of foul waters except by ejecting 
them into the streets. The filthy state of the 
central streets of St. Helier may, therefore, be 
said to depend on a necessity above all law ; and 
it is the more to be regretted as it is widely at 
variance with the domestic habits of the popu- 
lation, the interior of whose houses is generally 
remarkable for cleanliness, and comfort. 

I will now proceed to show that the evils 
pointed at in the preceding remarks might be 
easily remedied. 

In the first place, the brooks ought to be turn- 
ed into the main drain, out of the town ; and, 
consequently entirely abolished within its pre- 
cints. During the summer months, they become 
either quite dry, or they have so trifling a cur- 
rent, that the influx of filth r the same in all sea- 



106 

sons, makes their condition not only disgusting, 
but highly detrimental to public health. An 
attempt was lately made to render them less objec- 
tionable, by paving them, and, in that manner, 
regularising their inclination. But with an uncer- 
tain supply of water, and a fall not exceeding two 
inches on a thousand feet, such an attempt can 
only be an unprofitable expenditure of the public 
money. The act of clearing them of the accu- 
mulated filth, which requires to be repeated 
often, constitutes of itself a nuisance hardly to 
be tolerated. In the second place, the brooks 
having been stopped up, every street should be 
furnished with a close barrel-drain, for the recep- 
tion of house-drains of every description. There 
are in many of the streets, and alleys, gutters 
coarsely built, mostly very narrow, and so near 
the surface, that they admit only of a very imper- 
fect covering with flat stones, laid across their 
straight walls. As these gutters empty them- 
selves into the brooks, which, as I have already 
said many times, are too shallow to be adequate 
to the circulation of any thing heavier than 



107 

water, they are constantly choked, and are thus 
rendered pernicious to the salubrity of the town. 
It is somewhat provoking to hear these results, 
which evidently flow out of a faulty construction, 
instanced as proofs that proper barrel-drains 
would not be likely to answer the object contem- 
plated ; for the futility of such a conclusion is 
too plain to require any comment. Neverthe- 
less, this argument, if it merit the name, has 
sometimes been opposed to suggested improve- 
ments. 

Under proper superintendance, the improve- 
ment here suggested would not, I believe, be 
attended by very extraordinary difficulties ; nei- 
ther would it exceed the public resources. Cer- 
tain it is, however, that the sacrifice, be it ever 
so great, would be soon more than repaid by 
consequent advantages, as regards both the sa- 
lubrity, and the general attractions of the town. 

From the foregoing observations, it may, I 
think, be inferred, that St. Helier, as the capi- 
tal town of the island, is open to very few solid 
objections founded on locality ; and that the no- 



108 

table defects under which k yet labours, are 
mainly, if not entirely, ascribable to the apathy 
of its inhabitants, in having neglected to adapt 
its organisation to the exigencies of an increased 
population, and" proportionate enlargement. I 
need not, I think, stop to apologise for the 
length of my remarks on this important subject, 
as my motives can hardly fail to be favorably 
appreciated by all persons, who feel a more than 
common interest in the welfare of the island. 



PUBLIC WALKS. 

The want of public walks, and exercising 
grounds, in the immediate vicinity of the town, 
has long been complained of ; but it is not so 
much felt, as if a short walk, or drive, did not 
bring one into a picturesque and woody country^ 
where shade and pure air may be enjoyed, with- 
out the restraint, and etiquette, inseparable from 
fashionable promenades. The non-existence of 
such places of resort, therefore, was an evil more 
imaginary than real. It is, indeed, true, that 



109 

the inhabitants of this town evince little disposi- 
tion to profit by the facilities offered them, for 
healthful diversion in the open air, by the beau- 
tiful walks of the neighbourhood ; and there is 
reason to fear the same apathy, which renders 
them insensible to the invitations of nature, 
would also make the use of public promenades 
very limited. We are too apt, while in the pos- 
session of ample advantages, rather to dwell 
discontentedly upon fancied necessities, than to 
avail ourselves of the resources we have at our 
command. Nevertheless, a plantation or two 
for public recreation, would not only embellish 
the town, but would, also, exert a purifying in- 
fluence on the surrounding air. Consequently, 
was it only on that account, the adaptation of 
some spots to such a purpose, would be attended 
with no small advantage. But, at the present 
rate of building in all directions, the town 
will, ere long, have covered the whole of the 
plain in which it is situated ; and the oppor- 
tunity of effecting any such improvements as the 
above will have vanished for ever. This may be 



110 

a subject of regret hereafter. To say the least 
of the matter, embellishments in a town are 
never lost ; and, in considering questions of this 
nature, we should not be exclusively governed 
by the necessity of the moment. But, to return 
to the present state of things, it may be said that 
the distas f e of our higher classes for out-of-door 
exercise, is greatly owing to their excessive in- 
dulgence in less rational pleasures. With the 
exception of a few pic-nic excursions, balls and 
card parties form their principal means of social 
intercourse ; and the necessity of reserving them- 
selves for these their favorite pursuits, would, 
perhaps, serve to explain why our beaus and 
belles are so seldom seen out, better than the 
alleged absence of resources for more healthful 
amusements. 

It will not be out of place here to notice the 
spirited attempts made last year to supply the 
deficiency here alluded to. Two musical 'pro- 
menades were set on foot, which it would seem 
met with a degree of encouragement, sufficient 
to create great expectations of ultimate success. 



Ill 

One of them is attached to a bathing establish- 
ment, to which I shall, presently, have occasion 
to refer ; and both are justly entitled to the libe- 
ral support of the community. On this their 
permanency depends. As it cannot be doubted, 
that they constitute additional inducements to 
the visiter, to prolong his sojourn in our lovely 
island, their connection with a very important 
source of public advantage, will, it is hoped, be 
obvious to all minds, and secure them general 
patronage. 



ACCOMMODATIONS FOR SEA-BATHING, 

It might naturally be expected that St. He- 
lier's, from its proximity to the shore, w r ould 
present every facility for sea-bathing. Havre' 
des-Pas, on the east side of the town-hill, is a 
spot admirably suited to such a purpose ; but, as 
there are in that place no artificial accommoda- 
tions, it is little frequented except by men ; and 
that, too, at an early hour, inconvenient to in- 
valids. To practised bathers, this part of the 



112 

coast leaves nothing (o be desired. A stranger, 
however, could not at all times safely enter this 
stony labyrinth, in search of a convenient re- 
treat : for, when the tide flows-in, a certain 
knowledge of the currents is required, to avoid 
the danger of being, of a sudden, surrounded by 
the sea. Such accidents are the more likely to 
happen, as, at low water, the path appears free 
from any intricacy; and owing to this, many 
inexperienced persons have been placed in the 
most perilous situation. 

The retreats formed by the rocks in the above 
spot, — rude, insecure, and monopolised by the 
male sex, except at very unseasonable hours, — 
cannot suit the delicate feelings of a genteel 
female. Therefore, the establishment of bathing- 
machines in the vicinity of our town, by that 
enterprising gentleman, — Rose, esq., after the 
repeated failures of other persons in a similar 
attempt, deserves to be noticed in terms of com- 
mendation. Considering; such an establishment 
addresses itself to numerous individuals, of both 
sexes, who, formerly, were either excluded from 



113 

the luxury, and benefits of sea-bathing, or put to 
considerable inconvenience, and expense, it can 
hardly fail to receive adequate support. Thus, 
it may be ranked among the most remarkable 
ameliorations, which, of late, have enhanced the 
general merits of the island as a residence. For- 
mer attempts were made on a very limited scale, 
by persons of small means, unable to bear up 
against losses of time, and capital, in the begin- 
ning; whereas, the thing is now in the hands of 
an independent gentleman, bent on the success 
of an useful undertaking, and looking more to the 
merit of having triumphed over great difficul- 
ties, than to any pecuniary reward. Still, in the 
view here taken of such improvements, Mr. 
Rose's exertions ous;ht to gain the concurrence 
of all influential members of this community ; 
and to witness them with indifference, is, I think, 
to be blind to a desideratum of no small na- 
tional importance. For, it is impossible to es- 
timate how much the character of the island, as 
a summer residence, may have suffered from the 
want of the accommodations now offered at 

p 



114 

Grbve cVAzelle. When it is considered that 
many families were annually deterred by that 
cause from even visiting the island, and others 
reduced to the necessity of removing to more 
propitious places, on being ordered sea-bathing, 
as a remedy, I shall not, T trust, be thought to 
have attached too much consequence to the esta- 
blishment in question. 



CHAP. IV. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ST. AUBIN ; 

&c. &c. &c. 

ST. AUBIN. 

Next to St. Helier's, the town of St. Aubin 
claims our particular notice. In all public re- 
cords, it is, 1 believe, called a town, and we need 
not, therefore, detract from its consequence, by 
giving it a name of inferior acceptation ; though, 
in point of actual importance, it is now little 
better than a village. But it was once the prin- 
cipal seat of trade: and it was, no doubt, from that 
circumstance, that one common name was bestow- 
ed on itself, and the bay in which it is situated. 
Upon the ruins of its commercial prosperity rose 
that of its rival St. Helier's, which soon turned 



116 

all the main channels of wealth towards its own 
bosom. Divers reasons have been assigned for 
this reverse of fortune ; but, whatever may be the 
real one, St. Aubin's, in the view which I shall 
here take of if, derives most of its attractions 
from its present quiet state ; though it is not the 
less to be admired, for the marks it yet retains of 
better times. Its principal street, also its main 
entrance, is built in a style greatly superior to 
what a distant view might lead a stranger to 
expect ; and, altogether, it exhibits many indica- 
tions of former wealth and fashion. On the quays 
are many eligible houses, and up to the Vaux, — 
a valley of which I shall presently speak, — we 
likewise observe much neatness in the buildings, 
some of which are very pretty detached cottages. 
In a word, and to use the lively expressions of 
Mr. Inglis, it is just such a place as might be 
chosen in a thousand by the lover of seclusion 
and quiet. Rising on the eastern side of the 
bay, half-way up a beautiful hill, from the very 
border of the land, it commands a splendid sea 
view, which reaches as far as the opposite coast 



117 

of France, in clear weather. The two towns 
communicate one with the other by a good car- 
riage road, running close to the beach ; and, 
at low water, by a fine hard sand, from one side 
of the bay to the other. The distance is a little 
better than three miles. 

From what has been here stated, it will not 
be difficult to conceive how, in point of salu- 
brity, St. Aubin's leaves nothing to desire. Its 
drainage is rendered effectual by a mill-stream 
proceeding from an adjoining valley, and running 
at the lowest level of the town, over a paved 
gutter, which discharges itself into the subjacent 
harbour. Towards this stream all the sloping 
streets converge. On the level ground, along 
the quays, ample provision is made for the same 
important purpose, by underground sewers, also 
leading into the pier, which, twice a day, is freed 
from all noxious matter by the sea, except in 
neap tides. With such natural, and artificial 
means, it is easy to maintain a degree of cleanli- 
ness in this little town, which greatly enhances 
its merits as a residence. 



118 

The valley of Les Vaux opens upon St. Au- 
bin's from the north-west, thus leaving it partially 
exposed to the cold squally wind of that quarter. 
I say partially ; for the streets meet this vale, 
almost all at a right angle, and, moreover, 
the wind finds here no obstacle to its blow- 
ing directly into the bay. Nevertheless, in 
the lower parts of the town, and, particularly, 
in the valley, the evening air is found more chill 
than in the higher situations. The cause of this 
is easily understood. 

By reason of its position, St. Aubin's is well 
sheltered from the westerly gales, and equally 
from the south-west, both so prevalent in the 
island. 

The line of communication between the two 
towns, receiving the inlets of nearly one half of 
the entire island, is greatly frequented, and has 
a knot of houses at almost every stone's throw. 
About midway is the hamlet of Millbrook, and 
further-on the village of Beaumont. Flanked 
as it is, on one side by a beautiful rising* ground, 
dotted with numerous villas, and on the other by 



119 

the bay, this road is lively, interesting, and par- 
ticularly admired by the stranger. It is, how- 
ever, much exposed to the inclemencies of the 
weather, and without shade in the summer. 



COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE TOWNS OF ST. HELIER 
AND ST. AUBIN, IN REGARD TO CLIMATE. 

Through the kind co-operation of Mr. Hoc- 
quard, who, with great assiduity, kept a meteor- 
ological register at St. Aubin's, during a period 
of two years, auxiliary to the one I was keeping, 
at the same time, at St. Helier's, — I am enabled 
to give a comparative view of the climates of 
both towns, and thus to elucidate their respective 
merits as residences. The comparison, however, 
will here be limited to the temperature, the 
other grounds of distinction, such as aspect, 
shelter, &c, &c, having been sufficiently com- 
mented upon, in the foregoing remarks. Our 
observations were taken in each place at the 
same hour, viz. 9 a.m., and 9 p.m.; and as I 
have no reason whatever for thinking, that any 



120 

necessary attention or punctuality was wanting 
on either side, I can offer the following conclu- 
sions, in full reliance on the accuracy of the data, 
from which they have been drawn. 

During the period stated, the mean tempera- 
ture at St. Helier's and St. Aubin's, at the hours 
stated, showed an excess of 0,36, in favor of the 
latter town : a difference too small to deserve being- 
taken into account. This apparent similarity, 
however, is not borne out in other respects. On 
the contrary, a minuter consideration of the 
question authorizes distinctions, which, at first 
sight, might not have been apprehended. 

At 9 a.m., St. Aubin's is colder ', on an average, 
by one degree, and at 9 p.m., warmer, by rather 
more than one degree and a half. In this par- 
ticular, the seasons do not appear to exercise any 
marked control ; though, during the winter, the 
difference, at either hour, is somewhat less re- 
markable. The evenings, then, at St. Aubin's, 
are less cold than at St. Helier's ; from which 
fact it may be inferred, (considering the mean 
temperatures are so nearly equal in the two 



121 

towns,) that the atmosphere in the one is slower 
in parting with the heat it has borrowed from 
the meridian sun; while, in the other, it rises 
more rapidly from the minimum to the maxi- 
mum of heat. In Summer and Autumn, the 
mean temperatures of both localities make a still 
nearer approach to perfect equality, than appears 
by the yearly average stated above. 

On applying the same analytical inquiry to 
the different months, the following facts have 
been elicited. 

In January \ the temperature at St. Aubin's is 
a little above that of St. Helier's. 

In February, the difference is exceedingly 
trifling, not half a degree ; but here also the 
superiority belongs to St. Aubin's. 

In March, the case is altered, an excess of at 
least half a degree being shown in favor of St. 
Helier's ; and, what more especially merits at- 
tention, this comparative depression often exceeds 
two degrees, during an east or north-east wind. 
On the other hand, the north-west is less felt at 
St. Aubin's ; which is no small advantage, since 

Q 



122 

that wind is undoubtedly, one of the most pre- 
valent, and has many unfavourable qualities. 

In April, the average heat is again lower at 
St. Aubin's ; but the difference is then of greater 
moment, being* equal to one degree. At nine, 
A. M., it amounts to two degrees, generally ; and, 
on particular days, during an easterly wind, it 
has been as much as six and seven degrees, at 
the same hour. However, when the east wind 
has prevailed for successive days, the above dif- 
ference ceases to be so remarkable. In this 
month, the effects of the north-west are again 
less sensibly felt at St. Aubin's than at St. 
Helier's. 

In May, the temperature averages one degree 
higher at St. Helier's, in the morning ; but this 
excess is counterbalanced by a similar one at St. 
Aubin's, in the evening : so that the mean tem- 
perature of the day may be considered equal in 
both towns, during this month. But the greater 
exposure of St. Aubin's to the effects of an east- 
erly wind is again perceptible, particularly by 
the morning temperature ; whilst, on the other 



123 

hand, its superior shelter from the west, and 
south-westerly gales is as clearly shewn by con- 
verse data. 

The month of June is one and a half degree 
colder at St. Aubin's than at St. Helier's. 

July, on the contrary, is a little warmer, and 
the difference is particularly marked in the even- 
ing. Temperature certainly reaches to a higher 
maximum at St. Aubin's than at St. Helier's : for 
example, in 1831, it rose to 90° in the former, 
whereas it did not ascend beyond 83° in the lat- 
ter town. 

August does not differ from the preceding- 
month, in the particulars noticed. 

September offers a slight difference in favor of 
St. Helier's. 

In October*, the peculiarities of each town are 
almost constantly remarked in both. 

In November, the temperature maintains itself, 
on an average, 1°25 higher at St. Aubin's, — a cir- 
cumstance easily explained by the prevalence of 
the north-west wind, to which, as already stated, 
that town is not so much exposed as St. Helier's. 



124 

In December^ both places very nearly resem- 
ble each other, in respect to temperature. 

The range of temperature is somewhat greater 
at St. Aubin's than at St. Helier's, especially 
during the summer months ; but in point of 
equability, I believe the two localities to be very 
similar. 

Topographically considered the portion of St. 
Aubin's, which is built in 4 Les Vaux' though 
attractive in some respects, is, nevertheless, the 
least eligible as a residence, in all cases requi- 
ring particular attention to the qualities of the 
air. For, the direction of this valley renders it, 
of necessity, obnoxious to the cold boisterous 
north-west wind ; and, at all times, transitions of 
temperature at either of its extremities cause 
currents of air, quite incompatible with that 
steadiness of climate, which we most desire in 
selecting a residence for a delicate invalid. Jts 
liability to stationary mists is, it is true, to a 
certain extent mitigated by the same circum- 
stances ; but it cannot be supposed, that the air 
in this valley is so free from moisture, and 



125 

miasm, as in the elevated parts of the body of 
the town. Neither are these objections incom- 
patible with the fact, that this picturesque spot 
offers no marks of unhealthiness in the condition 
of its inhabitants, who, on the contrary, are said 
to be remarkably robust, and exempt from many 
of the common diseases of confined situations. 
The question here relates not so much to its own 
inhabitants, as to persons, who, in resorting to 
this neighbourhood, might do so for the benefit of 
change of air in convalescences, or chronic affec- 
tions. The most eligible part of the town, for 
the latter description of persons, is, unquestion- 
ably, the principal street. It is elevated, 
sheltered from the north, has a southern aspect, 
and is, by no means, deficient in suitable accom- 
modations. In the other branch of this little 
town, — that which turns to the east, — there are, 
likewise, some excellent houses, whose elevation 
and less exposure to the mid-day sun, might 
even, in some cases, render them preferable to 
those on the other side. But these are points 



126 

on Which the opinion of a resident practitioner 
should be consulted. 

The central parts of St. Helier's, with their 
narrow confined streets, dense population, im- 
perfect drainage, and other objectionable points, 
would ill bear a comparison with the quiet, 
cleanliness, and superior ventilation, which cha- 
racterises St. Aubin's. Therefore, it may be 
well to observe, in order to prevent misappre- 
hension, that whatever may be susceptible of a 
practical application in the foregoing remarks, 
touching the two localities, should only relate to 
those districts of St. Helices, which are removed 
from the influence of the nuisances, with which 
it abounds in other quarters. Unquestionably, 
such nuisances are as inconsistent with general 
salubrity, as they are opposed to the improve- 
ment of health under disease. With this convic- 
tion, derived from actual experience, it can hardly 
be supposed that I should deem any degree of ex- 
cellence, founded on meteorological phenomena, 
sufficient to overthrow objections of so grave a 



]27 

nature. Let it, then, be understood, that St. 
Helier's, viewed generally, cannot be brought 
into competition with St. Aubin's, in regard to 
salubrity ; and that the preference, which it 
possesses, in point of temperature, and shelter, 
can have no weight, except in its most eligible 
districts. 

The environs of St. Aubin's are truly delight- 
ful and varied. Above the hill, on which the 
town reclines, is a piece of moorland, crossed by 
fine military roads, where, in clear weather, the 
most healthful exercise may be taken. This 
tract, from its wild uncultivated state, forms a 
striking contrast with the general aspect of the 
island. And, although a feeling of astonish- 
ment and regret be almost inseparable from a 
view of so much waste land, in an island that has 
none to spare, still, abstracting such reflections, 
the mind experiences a sort of relief from the 
sameness, which exists in the other parts of this 
grove-like country, as we perambulate the ele- 
vated open'space just described. The diversion 
attendant upon an entire change of scene, can 



128 

hardly fail to be found in an excursion to this 
peculiar spot. The long avenue to Noirmont 
House, which commands a magnificent view of 
the greatest part of the southern coast, and its 
two principal bays, offers another excellent ex- 
ercising ground, which, if I mistake not, is at all 
times accessible to the public. Again, the 
winding valley of * Les VauxJ — the sweet little 
bay of St. Brelade, not far distant, — the 
shady lanes in the neighbourhood of ' Le 
Coin, 9 — each, and all, bestow on the vicinity 
of St. Aubin's a degree of variety and beauty, 
seldom equalled within so small a compass. 

The other spots, which I am about to describe, 
will, I think, be found worthy of particular at- 
tention, in connection with the object of this 
work. 



coast of st. clement: 
1. — The Coast of St. Clement. — For various 
reasons, but chiefly on account of its convenient 
distance from St. Helier' s, and the superior ac- 
commodations which it offers, the coast of St. 



129 

Clement, on the south-side of the island, seems 
to have acquired the preference over all other 
situations, as a watering-place. Thither many 
citizens are in the habit of removing every sum- 
mer with their families, with a view to an unre- 
strained enjoyment of the pleasures and benefits 
of a residence on the sea-shore, which are denied 
them in the immediate vicinity of the town, for 
the want of the necessary retirement. This dis- 
trict is a flat, but well cultivated and woody 
country; and the marked predilection shown 
for it by our town-folks, has had the natural 
effect of inducing many of its inhabitants to fit 
up lodgings, for the temporary accommodation 
of visiters, in the summer season. This is a re- 
commendation which is wanting in most of our 
rural districts, many of which, though abounding 
in natural attractions, can only be casually re- 
sorted to, on account of that deficiency. More- 
over, this locality commands a degree of retire- 
ment which may be regulated at pleasure. A 
noted house of entertainment, called Pontac, 
presents a means of diversion to those who may 



130 

require some distraction from the serenity of a 
country life. Hither numerous parties constantly 
resort, to indulge in that species of free gaiety 
and sport, which the wild scenery of the spot is 
well calculated to promote. Indeed, in the 
summer evenings, the beautiful sand on this part 
of the coast, far from being deserted, often be- 
comes a fashionable promenade ; and, twice a 
year, nearly the whole of our farming popula- 
tion is drawn to this spot, for the purpose of 
gathering the vraic, a species of fucus, exten- 
sively used for manuring the land. On these 
occasions, the innumerable rocks in the distance 
present a most animated spectacle, from the 
immense throng of individuals of both sexes, 
and all ages, busily engaged in the above occu- 
pation : while a proportionate number of carts, 
heavily laden with the valuable produce, form a 
long chain backwards and forwards, giving to 
the whole scene a degree of interest which can- 
not be depicted. For these reasons, and others 
of a more private nature, a greater number of 
British residents have settled in this parish than 



131 

in any other purely rural situation in the island : 
and this is hardly to be wondered at, when it is 
considered, that the spot in question combines, 
in proportions convenient to many persons, the 
social attractions of the town, with the advan- 
tages of a retired and inexpensive mode of 
living. 

The tract just described, which includes nearly 
one-half of the entire superficies of the parish in 
which it is situated, being, as I have already 
stated, low and flat, is of necessity damp during 
the rainy seasons,- It lies without the least 
shelter from the southern and western breezes, 
or the abundant rains which accompany them ; 
while, on the other hand, the inconsiderable 
height of the neighbouring hills leaves it equally 
void of adequate protection from the keen blasts 
of the northern and easterly winds. Conse- 
quently, there are, but few spots in this locality 
suited to the wants of delicate invalids, to whom, 
at best, it could oifer a proper residence, during 
a short portion of the year only. It is, unques- 
tionably, better adapted to the wants of tho'se, 



132 

who, in changing air, are principally actuated by 
a desire tocoimteraetthe deteriorating tendency 
of sedentary habits, confined air, late hours, and 
other evils, attendant on a residence in town. 
For occasional recreation, this marine situation 
is justly entitled to attention, on account of the 
accommodations it commands, and its short 
distance from town. It also affords every na~ 
//facility for bathing in the open sea. 



BAY OF GSIOUVILLE, AND VILLAGE 
OF GOREY. 

This spot is tolerably well adapted for a tem- 
porary residence, and, likewise, for the reception 
of parties of pleasure. But it offers no shelter 
for bathing, and little more for pleasant exercise, 
being low and flat for a considerable distance on 
all sides, and, consequently, extremely exposed, 
both in summer and winter. Nevertheless, the 
bay is pretty, and much enlivened by the acti- 
vity which prevails in its little harbour. It is 
also a place of much resort, on account of Mount 



133 

Orgueil Castle, which stands at its northern 
extremity, and is the most interesting of the few 
objects of antiquity still extant in the island. 
From this point, to the church of Grouville, a 
distance of nearly two miles, in nearly a straight 
line, the table land describes a beautiful curve, 
of considerable depth, the sloping sides of which 
exhibit a fine assemblage of rich pasturage, ara- 
ble land, and wood, forming a magnificent land- 
scape. It is much to be regretted that there is 
hardly a house to be seen in this declivity : for no 
spot, that I am aware of, enjoys a climate so dis- 
tinct from that of the island in general, nor so 
likely to supply additional resources in the treat- 
ment of certain diseases. Situated on the extreme 
east of the island, and looking outwards on the 
sea, it might, indeed, almost be said to be removed 
out of the pale of the local influences, which 
characterise our climate, — being much more inde- 
pendent of the atmospheric agencies in which 
those influences take their origin, than any other 
locality. The bracing qualities of the air of 
Gorey, have, of late years, been very generally 



134 

admitted by the Jersey practitioners, who would, 
doubtless, turn them to good account in many- 
cases, did not the limited accommodations the 
place as yet possesses often frustrate their in- 
tentions, by rendering a removal hither impos- 
sible to their patients. A part of this village, 
it is true, is built on a terrace, a little way up 
the cliff, where some few convenient lodgings 
may be found. The remainder of Gorey stands 
on a low sandy ground, near the beach, and has 
nothing to recommend it as a residence. 



st. Catherine's bay. 
This is a lovely, sequestered, little cove, facing 
the east, and behind which a dry, rocky, but fertile 
ground, whose declivity is moderate, displays all 
the luxuriancy of inland scenery. The approach 
to it is good, along the side of one of the prettiest 
vallies in the island. In no part is it altogether 
without sun and shade ; and, therefore, at all 
hours, it offers some delightful resting places, 
whence the visiter, breathing the purest air, may 



135 

view, in tranquil enjoyment, the splendid marine 
prospect before him. For here is no bustle to 
disturb the soothing serenity of the scene ; and 
I know of few retreats, where, in the summer 
season, the middle hours of a fine day, — devoting 
them to bathing, a light repast, and moderate ex- 
ercise on the surrounding cliffs, or in the shade of 
the adjacent dell, — might be passed with greater 
advantage by a numerous class of invalids. It is 
only distant from town five miles ; and in the 
cases to which the hint here thrown out might 
apply, the drive to and fro, would rather pro- 
mote, than mar, the object in view. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

The spots here described, though, in my opi- 
nion, the most deserving of special notice, as 
offering superior resources to the resident in- 
valid, are far from being the only ones which 
possess similar advantages. Many others, on 
the contrary, might be added to the list, if na- 
tural attractions were the only points upon 



136 

which the selection rested . But in directing- the 
attention to a few only, I have been governed 
by a regard to convenience, and ready accom- 
modation ; though, even in these respects, I have 
been forced to admit these favoured situations 
were still very deficient. The benefits which 
might accrue to the island, by multiplying its 
attractions in this way, seem not, as yet, to have 
been contemplated by the inhabitants, or to have 
formed the basis of any speculation. There are, 
however, sound reasons for thinking, that, were 
such an impulse once taken, in the investment 
of capital, new channels of wealth would spee- 
dily be opened, by an increase in the number of 
permanent residents. Many visiters land on 
these shores, quite undecided as to the length 
of time they will remain; leaving that matter to 
be determined by the impressions which a glance 
at the island, or, some inquiry into its merits 
as a watering-place, may make on their minds. 
If it happen, — as doubtless, it often does, — that 
such travellers see no inducements for prolonging 
their sojourn in the island, beyond a few days, 



137 

the cause of this is the more to be lamented, as 
it consists of local deficiences, which a little 
more public spirit would easily remove. All 
attempts tending to enlarge the attractions of 
this delightful island, such as promenades, 
bathing machines, and all public improvements 
generally, should therefore be promoted by the 
inhabitants, not merely on private, but, likewise, 
on public grounds. Lacking this spirit, the 
rich and independent view such matters in re- 
ference to their own wants; and fashion does 
the rest. Hence the fatal indifference so often 
shown by this class, for things that have nothing 
to recommend them, but a prospective advantage 
to the community at large. But in our public 
bodies, and the trading classes, with whose duty 
and interest questions of public good are closely 
identified, a similar apathy admits of no justifi- 
cation, and ought, by this time, to have yielded 
to a more liberal feeling. 

In surveying a small island like Jersey, with 
respect to the modifications of its climate, by 

causes confined to particular localities, the atten- 

s 



138 

tion is principally engrossed by the coasts, whose 
various aspects must naturally establish corres- 
ponding peculiarities for each, and more or less 
deviation from the rule which obtains generally. 
The interior of the country seems, at all 
events, to merit less separate consideration. 
Indeed, with the exception of some slight dis- 
tinctions founded on different degrees of shelter, 
inclination, exposition, and the nature of the 
vicinity, it cannot be expected, within such nar- 
row boundaries, the general climate will undergo 
any remarkable changes from locality. It needs 
only to be observed, that from the undulated 
character of the surface of the island, differences 
do exist in this respect ; and that, though the 
climate is under the immediate influence of the 
surrounding sea, the scenery in most of the cen- 
tral spots is such, as completely to abstract the 
mind from the idea of a marine situation. I 
need scarcely add, that the mildness of our cli- 
mate will be felt, in proportion to the degree of 
shelter which a locality enjoys from the coun- 
teracting agencies, which have been the subjects 



139 

of examination in another place. These general 
observations will be enough to show, that to en- 
large upon this topic would be a tedious and 
useless task. 



CHAP. V. 

OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISEASES OF THE 
ISLAND. 

PREFATORY REMARKS. 

Before proceeding to investigate the charac- 
ters of diseases in this island, whether as to pre- 
valence, or distinctive features, the following 
facts claim a portion of our attention. 

1. — The population is very far from being 
purely native. On the contrary, it has, at all 
times, but particularly of late years, consisted, 
in a large proportion, of adventitious inhabi- 
tants, most of whom could not be properly 
assimilated to the native class in a medico-sta- 
tistical inquiry. 2. — In the higher orders of 
society, the number of temporary residents is at 



141 

least equal to that of families strictly belonging 
to'the island. 3. — It is clear, on reflection, that 
the list of diseases, in a community so composed, 
includes many not fairly chargeable to the is- 
land ; and that due allowance ought to be made 
for this peculiar organization, in drawing infer- 
ences from statistical facts. Without such a 
precaution, the result of our investigation would, 
assuredly, be fallacious in the highest degree. 
4. — A very fertile source of disease, in this 
otherwise happy spot, arises from an excessive 
use of ardent spirits, the mean price of which is 
attended by the double evil of increasing tempta- 
tion, and facilitating indulgence. Among the 
labouring classes, especially, this disgraceful 
and ruinous habit produces incalculable mischief. 
But this remark does not, I am sorry to say, 
apply to that portion of our little community 
only ; and it is a melancholy truth, that superior 
education, — which ought to open the mind to a 
due sense of decorum, consequences, and moral 
obligations, — does not always effectually guard 
it against this debasing propensity. On the 



142 

contrary, instances are not wanting, here, of men, 
who after an honorable and active life, find in 
the comfort and retirement formerly desired, 
and to which this favoured spot is so well adapted, 
nothing but monotony, and insufferable dullness. 
For the want of intellectual resources, they seek, 
by the stimulus of liquor, to dissipate the ennui 
which oppresses their vacant minds. And, even, 
when this dangerous practice does not draw 
such persons into habitual drunkenness, it most 
commonly forms an error in diet, the effects of 
which are, sooner or later, displayed in a variety 
of consequent disorders. 5. — The spirit of indus- 
try which animates our farmers, frequently leads 
them to excessive exertion, and their saving 
habits to a degree of abstemiousness, by which 
constitutions, originally robust, become damaged 
at an early age. Instances of this may be wit- 
nessed daily. Many cases of stomach affections, 
so prevalent among that sober class, in both 
sexes, may, with equal reason, be referred to the 
same cause. Here, again, the climate of the 
island may be considered perfectly innocent of 



143 

any share in the production of a numerous group 
of prevalent disorders. 6. — With respect to the 
state of its community, the nature of its rela- 
tions, and other considerations, Jersey cannot, 
with any propriety, be assimilated to the pro- 
vincial districts of large countries ; for, within 
its narrow boundaries, it enjoys a sort of indivi- 
dual existence, comparable to that of a distinct 
nation. Has it not its towns, its coasts, and in- 
land country ; its own laws, and, in many re- 
spects, peculiar usages ; its internal, and foreign 
traffic ? In a word, Jersey is a miniature realm ; 
a small theatre, on which the various scenes of 
larger societies are enacted ; but with this distin- 
guishing feature, that, by more than a common 
share of general prosperity, affluence is not con- 
trasted by extreme poverty, and the upper, mid- 
dle, and lower classes run into each other, as it 
were, by insensible gradations. 

Having premised the foregoing observations, 
and restricted my inquiry into the diseases of the 
island to those questions only which strictly 
relate to climate and topography, I need not 



144 

stop to explain why, in handling this important 
subject, I shall not follow any nosological order. 
There is no disease which is peculiar to Jersey : 
consequently my subject will here limit itself to 
two questions^ namely, — what are the diseases, 
which, by reason of a relative frequency, seem 
to be favoured in their development by local 
influences, and — what are the modifications in 
disease generally, which may be referred to a 
similar agency. With regard to the first of 
these problems, I believe the following rule ob- 
tains, with slight exceptions. 1. — In infancy 
catarrhal affections ; remittent fever, often 
complicated by acute hydrocephalus. 2. — In 
childhood, catarrhal affections ; subacute in- 
flammation of the bowels. 3. — In adolescence, 
continued fever ; pleurisy. 4. — In the adult 
age, gastric affections ; bronchitis ; rheumatism ; 
chronic bronchitis ; chronic pleurisy, with effu- 
sion ; dilatation of the right cavities of the heart, 
without hypertrophy ; ascites. It may be pro- 
per to observe that the place assigned to each 
disease, under the above heads, has not been de- 



145 

termined by the positive number of cases, but 
rather by their relative frequency in this island, 
compared with other places. But it is hardly 
necessary to add, that, if so few forms of disease 
have been here brought under notice, it is be- 
cause they are those which seem chiefly tp be 
affected by locality, in their development, march, 
and termination ; and, assuredly, not on account 
of a supposed immunity enjoyed by the island, 
from a multitude of others, equally important in 
themselves, though less directly connected with 
the history of this climate. On the contrary, 
there are few communities, of equal number, 
which offer so extensive a field of observation as 
our own, a great proportion of which consists, 
as before hinted, of persons, whose healths have 
been affected, more or less, by many and various 
causes of deterioration. Therefore, it is only a 
natural consequence of the mixed nature of the 
population, that the catalogue of its diseases 
should be marked by a more than ordinary de- 
gree of variety : in other words, that a vast 
number of imported cases should swell the ge- 

T 



146 

neral list of diseases in this island. Let it be 
remembered, also, that the native of Jersey is a 
great traveller, being to be met with almost 
everywhere, toiling for independence, whether 
in private enterprises, or in the public service of 
the mother country ; and that, arrived at the 
gaol of his ambition, the fruits of his enterprise 
and industry, are too often rendered unavailing 
to himself by a shattered constitution, and un- 
timely infirmities. 

The modifications of diseases, in general, 
which, in Jersey, may be traced to local and 
peculiar agencies, will here receive their only 
illustration from incidental remarks, in the pro- 
gress of the preceding investigation. And, as a 
complement to my observations under those two 
heads, I shall devote a separate section to a third 
question, of great interest, viz. the degree in 
which scrofula, and consumption, prevail, com- 
paratively, among the inhabitants of the island : in 
doino; which, I shall have to refute an erroneous 
assertion, repeated by more than one writer, 
though, as will, I think, be proved, it cannot 



147 

have originated in a philosophical view of the 
subject to which it relates. I here allude to the 
superior prevalence of scrofulous complaints, 
falsely imagined to exist in the population of 
this country. 

By the foregoing particulars, touching the 
components of its population, the impossibility 
of throwing light on the pathology of this island, 
by the aid of bills of mortality, and similar 
sources of statistical information, will have been 
made sufficiently obvious. Indeed, such docu- 
ments, were they procurable, would be of ques- 
tionable value, on account of the endless quali- 
fications and allowances, with which it would be 
requisite to accompany them, so as to render 
them, in a degree, deserving of confidence. 



SECTION I. — PREVALENT DISEASES IN 
INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD. 

Among the diseases incidental to infancy and 
childhood, I have allotted the first rank, in the 
order of comparative prevalence, to catarrhal 
affections, and intestinal irritation. In the first 



148 

of these tender ages, especially, bronchitis and 
laryngitis are sometimes so acute, as to be con- 
founded with genuine croup, which, however, if 
I may judge from twelve years of general prac- 
tice, is of rare occurrence under this climate. 
The distinction is not unimportant : for simple 
inflammation of the air passages, though suffi- 
ciently dangerous, is, nevertheless, more under 
the control of art than the specific disease here 
mentioned. Croup is almost necessarily fatal, 
by reason of its characteristic phenomena ; 
whereas the other disorders may yield to early, 
and active treatment. Unfortunately, it often 
happens, that, the symptoms of the latter having 
been mistaken for those of a common cold in 
the beginning, medical aid is only had recourse 
to, at a time when irremediable mischief has 
already taken place. In instances of this kind, 
the physician cannot view the fatal termination, 
without deeply regretting, that a better opportu- 
nity was not offered him, of rescuing the innocent 
sufferer from the untimely death, which delay 
has rendered unavoidable. 



149 

That acute inflammation of the air-passages is 
a prominent disease among children in this is- 
land, cannot admit of a doubt. Consequently, 
some inquiry into the causes of its frequency, 
and the means by which the latter might be 
counteracted, seems to be rendered necessary 
by the statement of the fact. And, as in 
prosecuting this inquiry, I shall have to point 
out popular errors of a very injurious tendency, 
I trust on the indulgence of professional readers 
for any details, which to them might appear 
trite, or superfluous. 

The most common cause of the diseases in- 
cluded in the above generic denomination, is a 
cold damp air, acting on the surface of the body. 
The morbid effect on the respiratory tubes is, 
for the most part, only secondary, and consequent 
to the intimate sympathies, which exist between 
the common integument, and the lining mem- 
brane of those same tubes. But these membranes 
being concerned in one grand excretionary func- 
tion, it follows, as a physiological law, that the 
state of each is never totally independent of that 



150 

of the other : therefore, any cause, which dimi- 
nishes vital action in the one, throws an addi- 
tional burden upon the other, and vice versa. 
Now r , it will be readily understood, that the 
combined action of moisture and cold on the 
skin, will be attended by a corresponding effect 
of an opposite kind on the membrane of the air- 
passages : in other words, increased exhalation 
in the latter quarter will compensate for dimi- 
nished perspiration on the surface of the body. 
Other physiological actions, it is true, tend to 
the same end ; but they are purposely kept out 
of view, in order to simplify the present question 
as much as possible. Compensating actions of 
the kind here noticed, are constantly taking place 
in the animal economy, without any perceptible 
disturbance of the healthy state: reaction fol- 
lows depression, and thus relief is given to the 
over-excked organ. But if this be tardy, from 
some cause or another, irritation, or inflammation 
is the result. The particular part of the respi- 
ratory apparatus, which, under such circum- 
stances, becomes the seat of these morbid phe- 



151 

nomena, depends on predispositions of age, or 
constitution, not so easily accounted for as the 
general effect. In infancy, and childhood, the 
larynx, and trachea seem peculiarly liable to 
them. At the same time, these affections are 
attended by much greater danger at those periods 
of life, than at a more advanced age ; for the 
extreme narrowness of the glottis, joined to a 
greater vascularity of its lining membrane, which 
makes it more susceptible of swelling, and con- 
sequent occlusion, may convert a slight degree 
of inflammation of that part into a very urgent 
cause of suffocation. 

Popular opinion refers a great deal more mis- 
chief to a direct action of the air upon the respi- 
ratory organs, than to its secondary effects upon 
the latter, after having first affected the surface 
of the body. Hence, it is commonly imagined, 
that the thing most to be avoided by persons of 
delicate lungs, is the breathing of a cold air. 
Upon this false principle, such individuals 
are often unnecessarily kept confined to close 
apartments, who, might, not only with safety, 



152 

but, also, with evident advantage, be allowed ex- 
ercise in the open air. Generally speaking 
however, if the surface of the body be well pro- 
tected, there will be little to dread from the mere 
respiration of "cold air. For, let it be remem- 
bered, that the function of the lungs being respi- 
ration, they have been endowed with the means 
of enduring the changes, which are constantly 
taking place in the condition of the atmosphere, 
Were it not for this natural adaptation of the 
means to the end, so admirably exemplified in 
this, and all our other functions, how little would 
man's ingenuity avail him against the number- 
less agents of destruction by which he is sur- 
rounded ! But I have gone far enough into this 
subject to show that the popular opinion here 
alluded to will not bear examination. 

If it be true, as I believe, that the causes of 
catarrhal diseases, in this island, most commonly 
produce their effects, by acting first upon the 
external surface, it will follow, that precautions 
tending to guard the skin against such influences, 
form the best means of lessening the prevalence 



153 

of those disorders. Our climate is, assuredly, 
mild ; the winter season, in particular, is the least 
severe possible, consistently with the geographi- 
cal position of the island. But this fact ought 
not to make us indifferent to certain objection- 
able points, which, if not attended to, may often- 
times more than counterbalance the benefit 
flowing out of the good qualities. This obser- 
vation applies to all climates ; and how far it 
may apply to this climate in particular, will be 
easily ascertained, by turning back to the details 
given in Chapter 2. 

I have long since entertained a fixed opinion 
on the sort of apparel best suited to young chil- 
dren, in this climate. As a general rule, no child 
should be without flannel next to the skin, during 
winter, and spring ; and, at the close of the latter 
season, that portion of the dress should not be 
cast off without attention to the actual state of 
the weather. For this period of the year is ex- 
tremely variable, one day wearing, as if by anti- 
cipation, the cheering attractions of a summer 
sky ; whilst the next, cold, dark, and rainy, turns 



154 

the disappointed mind back to the irksomeness 
of an inclement season. By reason of these 
variations, which, undoubtedly, take from the 
superior character of our climate, for mildness 
and stability, the fashion of low dresses, short 
sleeves, and bare legs, for children, is admissible 
on no sound principles, in this island. On the 
contrary, it cannot fail to be a prolific source of 
danger, and mortality, by exposing the robust to 
unnecessary trials, anil the delicate to fatal di- 
seases. This conclusion, indeed, is fully borne 
out by the fact, that among our rural popula- 
tion, the diseases whose prevalence has led to 
this discussion, are by no means so remarkable 
as in town, where fashion is allowed more sway, 
and becomingness of dress more slavishly con- 
sulted. Our country people have their infants, 
and young children, very warmly clad : indeed, 
ridiculously so, in the eyes of many persons. 
However, it may be said, in defence of this cus- 
tom, that a comparative freedom from one of 
the most dangerous diseases of infancy and child- 
hood is gained by it ; and, therefore, it would 



155 

be folly to object to it, merely on the score 
of its being carried to greater lengths than 
is perhaps altogether necessary. Extremes in 
popular habits are with difficulty prevented ; and 
the pointing out of an abuse in a salutary prac- 
tice, is never free from the hazard of driving 
people into the opposite extreme. To avoid 
both only belongs to superior minds. Conse- 
quently, in questions of this nature, the good 
tendency of the general principle being admitted, 
the thing to be next considered, is, whether its 
abuse be innocent or otherwise ; and if it be 
found innocent, there is, certainly, more wis- 
dom in allowing it to subsist, than in attempting 
to correct it. 

Subacute inflammation of the bowels is also a 
prevalent affection of infancy, and childhood, in 
this island. It is marked by restlessness, loss of 
appetite, furred tongue, fever, and constipation. 
The fever is of the remittent type, the child 
being at one moment pale, cool, and tranquil, 
and at the next, flushed, burning, and irritable. 
These collapses, and reactions, may alternate 



156 

many times in the twenty-four hours; but, in 
general, the night is passed in a continued state 
of excitement. This morbid affection is, not un- 
frequently, the concomitant of the disease of the 
respiratory organs just described ; but, in that 
case, the latter complaint does not assume its 
most dangerous form, A co-existence of both, 
however, places the life of the little sufferer in 
imminent peril. Too often it happens, that pa- 
rents and nurses take one of the first symptoms 
of the disease, constipation, for the cause of all 
the rest; and, from this erroneous view, they 
are apt to think lightly of the matter, at first, 
referring the ailment to teething, or some other 
natural agency. A little ' opening medicine ' is 
thought to be all the child wants ; and he is, ac- 
cordingly, well purged by means of resinous 
powders, procured from the druggist, before 
being submitted to regular treatment. This is 
most commonly the plan pursued during the 
period of irritation ; and the disease is thus more 
or less aggravated, in proportion to the number 
of times the drug has been administered in the 



157 

manner stated. If any alleviation seem to follow 
this ill-timed stimulation of the bowels, such al- 
leviation is generally found to be momentary , 
and deceitful ; and, is presently succeeded by 
unequivocal signs of increased mischief. The 
natural termination of this disorder is by a se- 
cretion of mucus, rendering the stools loose, and 
glairy, and causing a great prostration of 
strength ; which effects, however, yield in a few 
days to diet, and a mild course of medicine. 
When, on the contrary, it has been made worse 
by improper management, it may become diffi- 
cult of cure, or eventually prove fatal, either by 
extreme exhaustion, or by complications in other 
organs. With respect to its most frequent 
cause, I need only refer the reader to what has 
been said touching that of catarrhal diseases, all 
which applies with equal reason to the present 
affection. 

Remittent Fever is seldom, if ever, indepen- 
dent of a local affection. But as it is a frequent 
disease among* children, in this island, it has 
appeared more consistent with the plan of this 



158 

little work, to allow it a separate existence, 
than to omit it altogether, on the ground of its 
being nothing more than the general symptoms 
of a localised disorder. Moreover, the latter 
doctrine is, by no means, universally assented to 
by pathologists. Whatever be the real nature 
of the fever, it is certain that inflammatory irri- 
tation of the bowels, or of the brain, or of both, 
is its usual concomitant. To be sure, in many 
cases, no strong indication is manifested of the 
presence of these local diseases, before the fever 
has arrived at its acme, or touches already to a 
fatal termination ; and, therefore, the theorist 
may think himself free to consider them either 
as causes, or complications, as may best suit his 
favorite doctrine. The doctrine, which views 
this fever as symptomatic only, would supply an 
easy explanation of its prevalence in the island. 
If, on the contrary, we suppose it to be idiopha- 
thic, the means of accounting for its frequent 
occurrence, by surrounding agencies, do not so 
readily suggest themselves. 

As before observed, in reference to all ages 



159 

generally, Jersey can boast of no exemption from 
the other diseases incidental to the two periods 
just examined. It may be said of the epide- 
mics, that measles is by far the most frequent, 
and is attended by as high a rate of mortality as 
is experienced in any part of the United King- 
dom. Up to a late period, scarlatina might 
have been considered of comparatively rare 
occurrence ; but, within the last few years, a 
change would seem to have taken place in that 
respect, which there is reason to ascribe to an 
increased intercourse with England, and France. 
For eighteen months, dating from the spring of 
1835, it certainly prevailed in a very unusual 
degree ; and, even to this day, it is not quite 
extinct, contagion being still active in inducing 
sporadic cases of it. In the autumn of 1833, 
roseola, and urticaria, broke out epidemically, 
and prevailed almost universally among children, 
though they did not respect grown-up persons 
either. This occurrence formed the subject of a 
note in my register, chiefly on account of the 
mistakes which were then made, as to roseola, 



160 

by the vulgar, who could not, without much dif- 
culty, be persuaded that the thing was not mea- 
sles, or scarlatina. Somehow or another, the 
latter name has received a singular acceptation 
in this island, being only bestowed on the milder 
cases, whilst the severe are denominated scarlet 
fever ! Well, indeed, might this novel, and mild 
acceptation be given to the name, when applied 
to roseola; for the disease required no treat- 
ment, and was free from all inconvenience, save 
the momentary discoloration of the skin, and a 
slight itching. 

We now come to the consideration of the di- 
seases assigned to the third division. 



SECTION II. — PREVALENT DISEASES IN 
ADOLESCENCE. 

From my own experience, I am inclined to 
look upon continued fever as being very preva- 
lent among the population of this little island. 
It especially affects youths and adults of the 
male sex. And, indeed, if we reflect on the la- 



161 

borious habits of our people, and their constant 
exposure to the vicissitudes of the atmosph ere, 
of which no inurement can render them totally 
independent : if, I say, we reflect for a moment 
on the nature of these causes, it will not be dif- 
ficult to perceive how they may predispose the 
labouring classes to the fever in question. A 
large portion of our mechanics, — and the country 
absolutely teems with them, even the agricultu- 
ral classes furnishing a great number, — begin 
and terminate their hard day's work by a walk 
of three or four miles to and fro ; which, besides 
imposing extra fatigue, shortens the interval of 
well-earned repose. So long as youth, and vi- 
gour are able to withstand this extraordinary 
waste of strength, the liability to fever thus in- 
duced, displays itself by the development of 
benignant cases only ; but, sooner or later, under 
the operation of such debilitating causes, will be 
induced a predisposition to a species of fever, 
which instead of being characterized by strong 
reaction, is marked, on the contrary, by asthenia 
or weakness. Thus, then, according to consti- 

w 



162 

tutional differences, similar causes will, here as 
every where else, give birth to one, or the other, 
of the two principal forms of continued fever, 
viz., the inflammatory and the typhoid. 

If to the predisposing causes of continued 
fever I have already noticed be added the too 
general abuse of ardent spirits, the mind will, un- 
doubtedly, be less inclined to fill itself with asto- 
nishment, at the frequency of this disease among 
our industrious classes, than at its not being 
still more commonly observed. M oreover, the 
town of St. Helier, from its low level, its nar- 
row streets, dense population, and imperfect 
drainage, would seem, at first sight, to be in any 
state but that of security from the action of marsh, 
and human miasms ; so that almost every cir- 
cumstance relating to its topography would ap- 
pear to conspire towards the production of the 
disease in question. Yet, it is only when the 
degree to which continued fever prevails is con- 
sidered positively, and without reference to the 
numerous agents tending to induce it, that the 
frequency of its occurrence is remarkable. A 



163 

more comprehensive view of the subject will lead 
to a very different conclusion. No unprejudiced 
observer can be blind to the fact, that many and 
fertile sources of febrile miasm, exist in St. He- 
lier's : a fact, which, if it do not agree with the 
sanitary state of the town, is not the less deserv- 
ing of serious attention on that account, the 
seeming contradiction being solely owing to the 
neutralizing effects of free ventilation. This 
could hardly fail to be the case in a town, situa- 
ted on the coast of a small island, and scarcely 
sheltered in any quarter from the currents of pure 
ocean-air, which perpetually move over its sur- 
face. But, that, independently of other conside- 
rations, this forms no just ground of indifference 
to means of improvement, was woefully proved 
by the rapidity with which Asiatic Cholera 
spread its fatal ravages in this place. An 
enormous proportion of its inhabitants fell a 
prey to the direful pestilence, whose mysterious 
cause acted on them like fire on a mass of the 
most combustible matter ! 

The study of climate has a very important re- 



164 

lation to the science of medicine, widening its 
field of utility, by the extension of its precepts to 
a greater variety of circumstances. Man's natural 
history furnishes proofs without number of the 
general fact, that his constitution is continually 
acted upon by external agencies, and that he is 
less adapted by physical, than by moral attri- 
butes, for the entire range of his terrestrial ha- 
bitation. Nothing renders this fact more ob- 
vious than a view of the diseases of human na- 
ture, some of which are restricted to particular 
regions of the earth, whilst all are, more or less, 
modified by local influences. Under the distur- 
bance, which accompanies disease, the constitu- 
tion often betrays peculiarities, not easily discer- 
nible in the physiological or healthy state. For 
example, a Jerseyman cannot bear much bleed- 
ing ; nor do his diseases require that degree of 
depletion which is practised, with propriety, in 
climates not strikingly different from his own. 
This position may be laid down as an axiom of 
medical practice in this little island. But it may 
be doubted whether the knowledge of it would 



165 

have resulted from mere inductive reasoning; • 
or, in other words, whether an acquaintance with 
the nature of our climate would alone have sug- 
gested a modification of the general rules of the 
healing art. The observation, however, places 
the effects of this mild and humid climate on di- 
sease in a very strong light ; and it, moreover, 
leads to the inference that such effects are ex- 
emplified in a morbid condition of the body, be- 
cause of a previous, though less sensible, action 
on the system, in the healthy state. 

I have been led into these reflections by a de- 
sire to show upon what grounds a free use of the 
lancet, and other modes of depletion, ought, in 
this island, to form the exceptions, not the 
rules, of medical treatment, in the commence- 
ment of continued inflammatory fever. In 
most cases, a bold application of such measures, 
however successful in other places, is here 
found injurious, whenever it fails to arrest the 
disease altogether, at the onset. A mild course 
of the fever through its different stages is 
less often the result of such treatment, than 



166 

an increased tendency to degenerate into ty- 
phus. The late Dr. Edwards, a shrewd, and 
highly esteemed practitioner of this island, was 
so convinced of the mischievous effects of such 
practice, that he never lost an opportunity of 
making known his opinion to his brethren. And, 
indeed, to a young practitioner the hint was of 
the greatest value, although subsequent expe- 
rience could not have failed to render the 
fact equally obvious to him. It is preferable, 
however, that practical knowledge should be 
thus handed down, than that it should be ac- 
quired by each medicalman, at the expense of 
his first patients. By the same fact we may, also, 
explain how the immoderate administration of 
brandy, in the typhoid stage of this fever, was 
formerly successful in some cases apparently 
desperate ; and how such an empirical practice 
became generally adopted, with little or no 
discrimination, by the older practitioners of this 
island. For, as exhaustion was readily in- 
duced, by too liberal an application of an- 
tiphlogistic measures in the inflammatory, so, 



167 

in the collapse stage, re-action was seldom 
brought about, except by the exhibition of the 
most powerful stimulants. 

Before concluding my remarks on continued 
fever, it may be proper to notice its mildest 
form, viz, diary fever, which is by far the most 
frequent of any, in this island. Generally, the 
symptoms of this ephemeral affection are too 
slight, and evanescent, to lead the sufferer to call 
for medical advice ; and, therefore, although the 
cases be very common, the opportunity of ob- 
serving one from beginning to end, is not often 
afforded us. Its connection with sudden changes 
of weather, is, for the most part, very evident; 
and, consequently, the frequent occurrence of 
this disease, — however insignificant it may ap- 
pear, when estimated by its transient existence, 
and mild symptoms only,— is a circumstance of 
no small importance, in regard to the general 
character of the climate. Few persons, in 
any class of this community, have not had 
more or less personal experience of this fever, 
though perhaps, as few have ever thought 



168 

of distinguishing it by any graver appella tion 
than that of a 'mere cold. 5 The hot stage, 
which is the most strongly marked, is accompa- 
nied by headache, general languor, quick pulse, 
loss of appetite, and sometimes sickness. It is 
seldom preceded by a decided rigor ; but there 
is a very great disposition to it upon the action 
of slight causes. For example, the act of getting 
in and out of bed may be attended with a fit of 
shivering, severe enough to make by-standers 
fear, for a moment, the development of a more 
formidable disease. Unless promoted by a 
warm bed, diaphoretic medicine, or some such 
means, the sweating stage is likewise slight, or 
may altogether escape notice ; but, after a night 
of heavy unrefreshing sleep, the urine passed in 
the morning is found to be scanty, high coloured, 
with an abundant lateritious sediment. When 
produced by the cause to which I have here spe- 
cially alluded, sudden variations in the weather, 
the duration of this fever does not exceed twenty- 
four hours, and its occurrence leads to no fur- 
ther consequences in healthy subjects. With 



169 

the other causes of this species of fever I have 
nothing to do, in this place. 

Pleurisy is, according to my experience, 
much more common here than pneumonia. 
In other respects, it offers no peculiarities refer- 
rible to locality. Those very acute cases of 
pneumonia, which nothing short of excessive 
bloodletting can controul, are, certainly, rarely 
met with in the native inhabitants, whose attacks 
of this formidable disease, except in old age, 
usually terminate kindly, under the effects of 
much milder treatment. It was, long ago, ob- 
served, that, in drunkards, pneumonia was 
almost invariably fatal, unless it were limited to 
a very inconsiderable portion of the lungs. 
Monsieur Chomel, an eminent lecturer in the 
Paris school of medicine, ascribed the superior 
mortality of the disease, in such individuals, 
to the practice of placing them under the same 
rigid discipline, as to regimen, as more sober 
patients. He, however, acknowledged him- 
self indebted to a fortunate hazard for the 

x 



170 

proof of what he advanced on this subject. A 
noted drunkard was brought into the hospital, 
the third or fourth day of an attack of pneumonia, 
up to which moment he had continued to drink 
three pints of wine a day : blood was drawn 
once only, and, in thirty-six hours, the patient 
-was convalescent. From that time the professor 
made it a rule to allow drunkards, labouring 
under the disease in question, a moderate por- 
tion of their habitual stimulus ; from which prac- 
tice he, subsequently, derived much satisfaction. 
Not a few of the instances, which he adduced in 
support of his position, had come under his 
notice, and been treated on this principle, from 
the very beginning. I may be pardoned for 
introducing this observation ; since, as I have 
already stated more than once, the abuse of 
ardent spirits forms a very conspicuous evil in 
the habits of this community, and, consequently, 
frequent opportunities must here offer them- 
selves of putting Mousieur Chomel's conclusion 
to the test of practical experience. 



171 

SECTION III. — PREVALENT DISEASES IN 
ADULT AGE. 

Gastric Affections. — Under this denomination 
is included a various and important group of 
diseases, more popularly known under the names 
6 indigestion/ 4 bilious/ 'stomach/ or dyspeptic 
complaints. Every practitioner must, certainly, 
admit, that, here, the slighter bilious disorders 
are remarkably common ; partly from atmos- 
pheric causes, and partly from causes chargeable 
to errors of diet, or vitiated habits of life. But 
the form of gastric affection which I intend 
noticing, more particularly, in this place, is that 
which authors have distinguished by the name 
of Nervous Dyspepsia. Its prevalence among 
a class of our inhabitants, which seldom exhibits 
it in other countries, is a fact so remarkable, 
that it would lead one to seek its explanation in 
special agencies of a local nature. Many of 
these, unquestionably, are identical with the 
effects of a mild humid climate ; but they do not 
completely account for the superior liability to 
the disease, shewn by our agriculturists, and 



172 

our rural population in general. As formerly 
stated, (page 46,) this class of people carry 
their industry, and spirit of economy, to an 
excessive pitch ; scarcely allowing themselves 
time for repose, and contenting themselves with 
a sort of fare, by no means proportioned to their 
bodily wants. There is, indeed, the more reason 
to look to the latter circumstance for what cli- 
mate fails to explain, in regard to the disease in 
question, as an equal degree of prevalence does 
not belong to it, among the other classes of the 
community. And, moreover, in the rural dis- 
tricts, it preferably attacks the women, who, it 
is well known, are here engaged in harder work, 
and subject to greater privations, than in almost 
any other civilized country. I may mention in 
passing, that from the latter cause, procidentia, 
and prolapsus uteri, are very common infirmities 
in this island, even in very young persons. 

Concerning bronchitis I have nothing to state 
beyond the fact of its great prevalence. In the 
adult age, however, it seldom degenerates into 
the chronic form; 



173 

Rheumatism is so general in these parts that 
it might, with some reason, be viewed in the light 
of an enderaical complaint. In youth, it frequent- 
ly breaks out in the acute form, and differs in no 
point from its general characteristics in other 
countries. I cannot imagine on what sort of au- 
thority it was lately stated, that it is, here, rarely 
complicated by pericarditis : for no assertion 
could be made more at variance with fact. The 
chronic form, however, is the one, which the dis- 
ease assumes most frequently in this spot, being 
already established, in many cases, even at a very 
early age. In the male sex, excepting hernia, 
no single disease constitutes so frequent a cause 
of disability for the military service, to which, as 
before mentioned, the law subjects every native. 
The exemptions, owing to this cause, may, 
without exaggeration, be estimated at one-tenth 
of the whole number of those which are final. 
The physical nature of the climate presents an 
obvious explanation of this fact ; but there is 
little doubt the tendency of that agent is greatly 
promoted in our country districts, by unnecessary 



174 

exposure, and contempt of ordinary precautions, 
in and out of doors. 

Having already entered into some details touch- 
ing continued fever, pleurisy, and pneumonia, it 
would be superfluous to re-examine them in this 
place. Let it suffice to have assigned them their 
proper rank among the diseases most commonly 
incidental to the period of life, to which the pre- 
sent section has been devoted. 



SECTION IV. — PREVALENT DISEASES I» 
OLD AGE. 

In classing the diseases of old age, most pre- 
valent in this island, I have paid no regard to 
the tendency of each in affecting the duration of 
life ; although, in whatever relates to that and 
the opposite limit of earthly existence, — the 
beginning, and the end of the living state, — the 
mind cannot, without difficulty, abstract itself 
from the consideration of the comparative degree 
of danger, belonging to the various agents of 
destruction by which man is surrounded. Chronic 



175 

rheumatism, to which, on the rule of relative 
frequency, I have assigned the first rank, is, by 
far, less dangerous, than any of the other di- 
seases enumerated under the same head. Ne- 
vertheless, it is a prolific source of infirmity, 
and suffering ; and, as such, it cannot fail, indi- 
rectly perhaps, to militate against longevity. I 
have witnessed not a few instances of complete 
loss of motion in the extremities, and almost as 
complete rigidity of the trunk, from the accu- 
mulated ravages of this inveterate disease. It 
ought to be observed, however, that, in this 
island, chronic rheumatism is viewed as a very 
ordinary occurrence, against which medical aid 
can do little : hence, as long as it does not amount 
to a permanent, or serious infirmity, is borne 
with stoic endurance, and allowed to grow into 
a morbid condition, beyond the power of art to 
palliate, — much less to cure. 

Chronic bronchitis, chronic pleurisy, and di- 
latation of the right cavities of the heart, in this 
island, setting aside their relative frequency, 
present no characters different from those which 



176 

they possess generally. A common symptom, 
viz. dyspnsea, or shortness of breath, causes 
them to be confounded together, under the ap- 
pellation of asthma, which strictly belongs to 
neither. The first is strictly referrible to the 
agency of climate ; the second not so clearly ; — 
and, as to the last, it might, I believe, often be 
justly considered as the effect of repeated at- 
tacks of bronchitis, or inordinate exertion of 
the body. There would be more difficulty in 
finding a satisfactory reason for the prevalence 
of ascites. Anasarca, though common, has not 
been specified, being, in most instances, a mere 
symptom of one or other of the diseases be- 
fore alluded to. 



SECTION V. — OF SCROFULA AND CONSUMPTION. 

1. — Scrofula. — It has been asserted, and very 
generally credited, that scrofula is more fre- 
quently the object of observation in this island, 
than in most places ; but there appears no just 
grounds for such an opinion. On the contrary, 
were the population tried on this point, by a 



177 

scientific criterion, I believe the charge of a 
greater liability to that disorder would be easily 
refuted. Th@ cause of truth has, in all ages, 
been much injured by hasty generalizations ; 
and (what is still worse) honesty of purpose 
could not, in every instance, be offered as the 
apology of misrepresentation. Various causes 
may, doubtless, here, as in similar contracted 
spots, have caused the scrofulous diathesis to 
run into extensive ramifications in some families, 
whether by actual degeneracy, or hereditary 
transmission. But, would it be fair, on that 
account, to reflect on a whole population a pe- 
culiarity assignable to a few groups only, how- 
ever numerous individually % In 1833, medical 
boards were formed by order of Major General 
Thornton, the lieutenant governor, for inquiring 
into the disabilities of all such persons as en- 
joyed, or claimed exemption from military duty. 
By consulting the returns made on that occa- 
sion, I have succeeded in making the following 
summary of the diseases therein enumerated: 
which summary, considering the nature of the 

Y 



178 

documents from which it has been drawn up, 
exhibits a statistical fact, of unquestionable au- 
thenticity, and capable of throwing some light 
on the present question. 



Summary of the diseases, admitted as grounds of final exemption 
from duty in the ranks of the Royal Jersey Militia, in 1833 ; at 
which period, (according to a recent census,) the male popula- 
tion of the island, including all ages, was 17,006— and the total 
effective force of the militia 4017 .* 

Hernia 47 

Scrofulous Affections • 17 

Chronic Rheumatism 22 

Pulmonic Affections 37 

Epilepsy 16 

Debility 21 

Mechanical Injuries, Deformities, and Lame- \ aj 

ness, from unspecified causes £ 

Varicose veins 12 

Ulcerated legs 12 

Impaired Vision, and Blindness, from Opaci- ) ,~ 

ties, and Amaurosis J 

Hematemesis 3 

Urinary Diseases 5 

Disabled Hands, from retraction of the} 

flexor tendons, (some of which cases > 10 

probably originated in rheumatism) 3 

Dropsical Affections 4 

Deafness 6 

Opthalmia (chronic) 3 

Liver Complaints (chronic) 2 

Stomach Affections (inveterate ?) 4 

Necrosis 2 

Diseases of the Brain 1 

Do. oftheTestes 3 

Paralysis « 1 

Cancer 1 

Gout 2 

Hemorrhoids, habitual and severe 1 

Cutaneous Affections 2 

Total 294 

* This number includes only the Lads under Drill, and the Men 
who have clothing. 



179 

Supposing a large portion, (say 12,) of the 
cases of deformity, and lameness, together with 
one half of those of impaired vision, and all 
those of chronic opthalmia, and necrosis, to be re- 
ferrible to scrofula, — which computation would, 
doubtless, go far beyond the real fact, — even 
then, the number of scrofulous affections would 
only be in the proportion of thirteen per cent, 
on all inveterate diseases, brought under medical 
inspection, on the above occasion. And, assur- 
edly, in the face of such a fact, it would be diffi- 
cult to uphold any longer the opinion, that 
scrofula is remarkably prevalent in the popula- 
tion of this island. At all events, setting aside 
the general question, it can hardly be denied, 
that, in whatever degree the disease may prevail, 
its effects do not appear, in this country, often 
to incapacitate men for the extraordinary duty 
here alluded to. In addition to the fore^oinn: 
data, it may not be unimportant to mention, 
that, in upwards of twelve years, during which I 
have performed the duty of surgeon to the Town 
Battalion, which draws on one half of the entire 



180 

population, I have only exempted one individual 
from duty in the ranks, on account of cicatrices 
about the neck, from scrofulous ulcers. 

With respect to the female part of our com- 
munity, I have it not in my power to supply any 
such statistical information ; but, considering 
the hereditary nature of the disease in question, 
T think we may safely infer, from what has been 
stated, touching the opposite sex, that the opi- 
nion, which has called forth the preceding re* 
marks, has no better foundation in the one case, 
than in the other. 

The facts here set forth will, it is hoped, go 
far to prove the futility of the assertion, by 
which Jersey has been represented as peculiarly 
liable to scrofulous complaints. In fact, they 
would rather incline a dispassionate inquirer to 
the opposite conclusion, — which would, doubt- 
less, receive additional support, from a review of 
the most general causes of those morbid actions. 
Many of those causes operate but partially in 
the island ; while not a few of them, such as 
sedentary, or unhealthy occupations, in crowded 



181 

factories, bad, or insufficient food, from poverty, 
<&c, &c, may here be considered as almost en- 
tirely absent. The abuse of spirituous liquors 
forms the strongest exception to this favorable 
state of things. 

2. Consumption. — After much reflection on 
the statistical history of this most fatal of all 
diseases, I feel no hesitation in asserting that, 
in this island, the number of deaths referrible to 
it, falls considerably below the general average. 
There are few, if any, genuine cases of that ma- 
lady, whose origin could be held strictly inde- 
pendent of a scrofulous habit of body ; though, 
in some, the exciting, or determining cause, has 
been so prominent as to appear to have acted 
directly, without the aid of any sort of predispo- 
sition. Nevertheless, the latter is considered, 
by modern pathologists, the almost absolute 
condition of the development of the particular 
disease of the lungs, denominated tuberculous 
consumption. Be that as it may, the identity 
of the specific characters of the latter affection, 
with those of other local disorders, evidently the 



182 

effects of scrofulous action, is too plain to admit 
of a doubt. Supposing this doctrine to be cor- 
rect, therefore, the rarity of the scrofulous dia- 
thesis would naturally imply a proportionate 
rarity of consumption, as one of the many mor- 
bid results, to whose occurrence it is deemed 
essential, upon the surest principles of scientific 
deduction. The degree of immunity from con- 
sumption, which, I believe, cannot be fairly 
disputed to Jersey, is the more remarkable, as 
it exists in spite of a great prevalence of the 
most common of the exciting causes, pulmonary 
catarrh. This circumstance may, I think, be 
viewed as additional evidence of the necessity 
of predisposition : for, in no other way, could we 
reconcile the unfrequency of the one disease, 
with the prevalence of the other. 

I have met with many specimens of chronic 
consumption, chiefly in the country parishes of 
the island. Some of these cases, in persons 
originally robust, did not appear incompatible 
with a long life. An alarming aggravation of 
symptoms did occasionally occur, from various 



183 

causes ; but I have known the intervening pe- 
riods to appear so promising as to create doubts 
touching the correctness of the diagnosis, by 
which the disease had been pronounced incurable. 
During such intervals, the patient has been seen 
to resume his ordinary occupations ; a result 
which, though it was anomalous, was well cal- 
culated to teach the medicalman prudence, in 
delivering an opinion on the probable duration 
of life, under such circumstances. It is easy to 
account for the exacerbations. In cases of this 
description, the tubercles, few in number, pass 
through their changes slowly, and without much 
general disturbance, until they have become 
completely softened. At this crisis, acute in- 
flammation is set up in the adjacent substance 
of the lung, previous to the evacuation of the 
liquified product; a neighbouring artery, involved 
in the inflammation, and losing, of a sudden, all 
support, by the destruction of the tissure in which 
it was formerly imbedded, may yield to the im- 
petus of the blood, and thus give rise to dan- 
gerous hemorrhage. Other local, or general 



184 

actions, may also, for the moment, place the) 
patient in the most imminent peril. But if the 
constitution resists these severe inroads, the 
symptoms gradually subside ; the site of the 
evacuated tubercle becomes a permanent cavity, 
secreting more or less mucus; and, under this 
dilapidated state of the respiratory organs, the 
invalid may yet spin out a precarious existence 
to an advanced age. 

Before passing to the next chapter, I may 
once more observe, that in the foregoing brief 
notice of the prevalent diseases of Jersey, I have 
endeavoured, as much as possible, to confine my 
remarks to those morbid phenomena, whose 
study was calculated to throw light on the lead- 
ing object of my inquiry, viz. the climate of the 
island. 



CHAP. VL 

REMEDIAL PROPERTIES OF THE CLIMATE 
OF JERSEY. 

The principal, and most useful object of 
researches into climate, is, undoubtedly, the 
elucidation of its effects on the organization, in 
health, and disease. Consequently, though the 
present essay has extended much beyond its origi- 
nal plan, I cannot conclude it without adverting 
to this important subject. Touching the diseases, 
which may be considered peculiarly prevalent, 
among the native population, and the stationary 
residents, I have already gone into as much 
detail, as the extent of my information would 
justify. Therefore, it now only remains for me 
to submit the results of my observations on the 

z 



186 

merits of this climate, as a remedial agent. 
Of this part of my task, I shall acquit myself 
as briefly as will appear consistent with its im- 
portance. 

It ought to be recollected, that a knowledge 
of the prevalent diseases of a locality, furnishes 
no certain criterion of the tendency of its cli- 
mate, with respect to diseases developed in 
other situations. Otherwise, the application of 
climate, as a remedy, would be still more limited 
than it is ; and its study would but ill repay the 
inquirer for the perseverance, and attention 
which it necessitates. 

The best observers have shown themselves 
very cautious in drawing any but the most ge- 
neral conclusions on this delicate question. 
However, from some of the foregoing details, I 
think it might safely be inferred, that for all 
diseases whose cure may be facilitated by a mild 
climate, this island presents many advantages 
over almost any situation, with which it would 
be reasonable to compare it. To avoid endless 
explanations, let me here remind the reader, 



187 

that, in any thing I may advance, concerning 
the character of this climate, as a residence for 
invalids, my statements shall, of course, be made 
with reference to geographical position. For, 
it is only on comparative merits, as one of the 
English climates, that a claim to consideration 
can be founded, in behalf of Jersey. 

To say, with Dr. Scholefield, that the climate 
of Jersey is the most suitable, for those labour- 
ing under pulmonic diseases, of any in Europe, 
would be to repeat an extravagant assertion, 
difficult to support by any argument, however 
specious, and still more by authentic facts. The 
superiority of the island, as a climate, lies within 
much narrower limits. 

I have already said, (page 73,) that under the 
influence of the mild and soft qualities of this 
climate, chronic diseases, generally, proceed 
slowly ; and, being less liable to exacerbations, 
from atmospheric variations, the chances of a 
favorable termination are proportionally in- 
creased, in cases whose nature does not preclude 
all hope of ultimate restoration to health. In 



188 

another place, also, (page 85,) I have alluded to 
the advantages the island offers, as a sort of ini- 
tiatory climate, for individuals, who, from a pro- 
tracted sojourn in tropical latitudes, have been 
rendered unable to resist the inclemencies of less 
favored situations. These are, undoubtedly, points 
of no mean importance, and as to which, (if I 
may trust to my own observation, during thirteen 
years of general practice,) a very high character 
may be conceded to Jersey, compared with 
the principal watering places, in the south of 
England. I need scarcely pause to qualify this 
opinion, after the details already entered into, 
concerning the character of the climate, in the 
different seasons of the year : for, having, as I 
think, unsparingly pointed out its objectionable 
qualities, it cannot be supposed that I aim at 
placing it in a light more favorable than it de- 
serves. Enough has been said to show, that, 
in order to derive any benefit from the genial 
properties of this clime, some caution is neces- 
sary, against the countervailing tendency of 
other qualities of a very different nature. 



189 

With this understanding, I shall now proceed to 
the further consideration of the cases of disease 
in which more or less advantage may be expected 
from a residence in this island. 

During nearly three-fourths of the year, the 
soft and equable character of this climate, joined 
to a moderate temperature in the two extremes, 
will, generally, prove beneficial in the incipient 
stage of pulmonary consumption, when the sub- 
jects of that most fatal of all human diseases, 
have, hitherto, lived in less temperate regions. 
This affection is, most commonly, ushered in by 
a marked period of irritation, requiring deple- 
tion, and sedative remedies ; both of which means 
will take greater, and more durable effects under 
our sky, than in situations subject to more ex- 
tensive variations, and ranges of atmospheric 
heat. It would be difficult to understand upon 
what just grounds this climate could have been 
supposed unfavorable to invalids liable to ha> 
mopty sis, unless it was in the last stage of tubercu- 
lous consumption. For the truth is, haemoptysis, 
whether as an idiopathic disease, or as a com- 



190 

plication of phthisis, is, here, comparatively 
rare, local agencies tending much more to pre- 
vent, than to induce a plethoric state of the 
system. And, indeed, many instances have come 
under my observation, of haemoptysis having 
been effectually checked by a residence of one 
or more winters in this island, when no organic 
disease of the lungs existed, and when the he- 
morrhage was simply the result of local conges- 
tion. From the lesser intensity of the predis- 
posing causes of haemoptysis, in this place, its 
occurrence in the progress of tuberculous con- 
sumption is by no means common ; and, thus, 
the latter affection frequently passes into the 
last stage, free from any other symptoms, but a 
stubborn cough, and frequent pulse, accompa- 
nied by loss of flesh, and, in females, suppressed 
menstruation. The cough is here observed to 
be attended by mucous expectoration, very early 
in phthisis, long before the tuberculous pus is 
thrown off; and, oftentimes, up to this moment, 
no degree of emaciation has taken place, such as 
to create serious apprehensions. Even as one 



191 

of the consequences of organic disease of the 
lungs, haemoptysis scarcely ever fails to be alle- 
viated by a winter passed in this island ; and 
the liability to inflammatory action in the neigh- 
bourhood of tubercles being lessened by the same 
causes, which diminish the tendency to local 
plethora, the pulse is,notunfrequently, improved, 
It need scarcely be said, that the hopes raised 
in the patient's mind, by such a mitigation of his 
" sufferings, must soon vanish, in so inveterate a 
disease as pulmonary consumption. He cannot 
get the better of his cough; and, although he is 
often heard to express satisfaction at its having 
become less hard, and fatiguing, the ' phlegm ' 
now being ejected with less difficulty, this change, 
on which he lays so much stress, is merely the 
deceitful effect of the milder and softer climate, 
in which he now breathes, and which has be- 
stowed a catarrhal character on this symptom of 
his fatal complaint. It is far from my intention, 
in offering the foregoing remarks, to insinuate, 
that to this climate belongs the inestimable pri- 
vilege of alleviating, in any essential degree, a 



192 

malady, which, in spite of the rapid advance- 
ment of medical science, still bids defiance to all 
human skill. What is here aimed at, is to place 
Jersey in its true position, among climates of a 
similar nature,- and to draw inferences of prac- 
tical value, concerning particular morbid actions, 
which, though sometimes the consequences of 
phthisis, have, not unfrequently, a separate ex- 
istence, and admit of a successful treatment. 
Of this kind is haemoptysis. I believe it to be 
generally admitted, by modern pathologists, that 
the latter disease, when simple, is very rarely 
occasioned by the erosion of a large bloodvessel ; 
and that, in the majority of cases, the hemorrhage 
results from an exhalation of blood on some part 
of the mucous membrane of the respiratory 
channels. Now, the state of the mucous mem- 
brane predisposing to this affection, is certainly 
not common in this island ; a state widely diffe- 
rent from that which induces the diseases, known 
by the general term catarrhal^ prevalent under 
the meteorological influences which charac- 
terise this climate. 



193 

From the preceding observations, it may be 
seen that I consider Jersey entitled to a very 
high character, among the English climates most 
suited to invalids labouring under incipient pul- 
monary consumption, and idiopathic hssmoptysis. 

Strange as it must appear, considering the 
frequency of those diseases among the inha- 
bitants themselves, catarrhal affections, when 
imported into this island, are more commonly 
improved than aggravated, if the invalid have 
been duly mindful of the necessity of not trusting 
too implicitly to superior mildness, and equabi- 
lity of temperature. Nor would I restrict this 
position to cases of dry bronchial irritation only : 
for I have noticed numerous instances of chronic 
bronchitis, — accompanied by so profuse an expec- 
toration, that no other means, but the stethoscope, 
could have enabled the practitioner to distinguish 
them, with certainty, from consumption, — which, 
nevertheless, have terminated favorably, during 
a season passed in this climate. But, it should 
be observed, that, whatever inducement might 
arise to the contrary, from this, or other reasons, 

2a 



194 

such invalids ought, by no means, to postpone 
their departure hence, beyond the period of their 
restoration to health : for, as the effect of change 
becomes neutralized by habit, they come to share, 
more or less, the liabilities of the inhabitants 
themselves ; added to which, their own predis- 
position, from previous attacks, render them 
still more vulnerable to the common causes 
of the same disorders. The objections enter- 
tained against this, and the other Channel Is- 
lands, in regard to the present diseases, are 
chiefly founded on the supposition, that their 
climates are peculiarly relaxing, and, moreover, 
deteriorated by exposure to frequent high winds. 
With regard to the first of these objections, I 
have already laboured to show (page 77,) how 
far it agrees with direct observation : and, with 
regard to the second, — as, in assigning a place 
to this climate, I have confined myself to com- 
paring it with those of the south, and south-west 
coasts of England, — I may say, with Dr. Young, 
op. cit. " the further we go up the channel, the 
" more remote we become from the mild gales 



195 

" of the Atlantic, while the prevalent south- 
" westerly winds, in passing over a considerable 
" part of the continent, must have lost much of 
'•' their warmth." 

I have stated, elsewhere, that gastric affections 
hold a prominent rank among the diseases inci- 
dent to this population. Nevertheless, expe- 
rience has, long ago, convinced me, that our 
climate shows itself by no means adverse to 
invalids, labouring under certain forms of that 
class of diseases, and who have come hither with 
a view to the alleviation of their sufferings. 
This observation applies chiefly to nervous dys- 
pepsia, which, it is well known, is more readily 
influenced by change of air, scene, or habits, 
than perhaps any other ill ' that flesh is heir to.' 
Among the great number of persons, who, an- 
nually, visit this island, there are many dyspep- 
tics ; and, consequently, the local practitioner 
has frequent opportunities of trying his skill 
against the protean disease in question. From 
the success which attends his endeavours, he may 
safely draw an inference as to the influence of 



196 

the climate : for, most commonly, the eases 
which thus come under his notice, have been 
submitted to various methods of treatment': and 

A 7 

it would be difficult for him to suggest any re- 
medy, which had not already become familiar to 
his patient. Under these disadvantages, what- 
ever might be the ingenuity of the medicalman, 
in modifying principles of treatment, previously 
tried without success, if he succeed, he cannot 
justly pretend to the whole credit of the cure ; 
for a candid review of the history of such cases, 
cannot fail to convince him, that change of cli- 
mate, and reformed habits of life, have been the 
chief instruments of the amelioration, which has 
taken place under his managemeut. This has 
been my impression in many instances of this 
kind, that have occurred in my own practice. 

With respect to hepatic diseases, except in so 
far as they are frequently connected, as compli- 
cations, with the preceding disorders, — in which 
case, they are, for the most part, only func- 
tional, — they are neither to be considered pre- 
valent in this country, nor likely to be preju- 



197 

diced in their terminations, by the action of the 
climate. Here, again, my opinion is at variance 
with that of the able contributor to Mr. InghV 
work ; but a long, and tolerably extensive, per- 
sonal experience, forming the ground of my 
sentiments on this, as well as the other subjects 
of this essay, I cannot sacrifice them even to the 
high opinion I entertain of that physician's lite- 
rary acquirements, and philosophical spirit of 
observation. Structural disease of the liver, is 
of very rare occurrence in Jersey, among the 
native inhabitants ; and the cases I have noticed 
in the other class, most of which owed their de- 
velopment to a residence in tropical latitudes, 
far from appearing to be unfavourably affected 
by the climate, have, generally, improved under 
its influence, when extensive disorganization of 
the viscus did not preclude the possibility of such 
a result. 

For the scientific explanation of what I have 
here advanced concerning the remedial proper- 
ties of this climate, I must invite the medical 
reader to take a retrospect of its physical qua- 



198 

lities,as detailed in Chapter 2, from observations, 
which, though confined to a period of five years 
only, furnish, I believe, the only information of 
a conclusive nature, hitherto laid before the 
public. The few facts of a similar kind, made 
known by Mr. Inglis, in his 'Channel Islands,' 
were borrowed from my register, and constituted 
a part of the mass of those, from which I have 
drawn my conclusions. 

The further application of this climate in the 
treatment of the many diseases not mentioned 
in this place, will flow out of the incidental ob- 
servations offered in various parts of this work. 
I need only observe, for that purpose, that in 
considering this locality, with regard to its merits 
as a residence for invalids, the general features 
of its climate should stand foremost among the 
facts, from which general inferences are to be 
drawn. And, in concluding this essay, may I 
be allowed to express a hope, that I may share 
the privilege of indulgence, commonly granted to 
authors, who have written in the midst of pro- 
fessional occupations, which leave but rare and 



199 

uncertain leisure for literary pursuits. I cannot 
pretend to the merit of having exhausted the sub- 
ject of the foregoing investigation, being fully 
aware that I leave it still open to much interest- 
ing research. But, should the facts which I have 
collected, and brought together, appear calculated 
to aid materially in the more complete elucidation 
of the climate of this island, — which has, of late 
years, acquired a great degree of importance 
among the places most resorted to by invalids, 
and travellers of every description, — I may say, 
in perfect candour, that the full of my ambition 
shall have been gratified. 



THE END, 





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